Laziness, Depression and Medication

My previous post on my personal grapples with not meeting my goals has led me to devote an entire blog entry on the idea of taking medication for laziness or lack of self-discipline. For the purposes of my goals, self-discipline means I have been so self-indulgent that I have had a hard time meeting my goals or doing what I know I am supposed to be doing. The decision to act against my long-term interests happens so quickly and automatically that I rarely catch myself in the act. I decide to not go to the gym cause I am sick, or so I tell myself. Then I go out with friends cause I am not that sick. Which is it? If I am honest with myself I know I am almost certain I am well enough to at least walk on the treadmill and lift weights. But the excuse telling to myself happens so quickly I cannot recognize it always, or I don't want to. I feel like, if I have an excuse that seems legitimate then it is okay if I don't go. I literally lie to myself!

Anyway, I went off-track for a moment there. What is self-indulgence? In one online resource, self-indulgence is termed :

Self-indulgence (Self`-in*dul"gence) (?), n. Indulgence of one's appetites, desires, or inclinations; -- the opposite of self-restraint, and self-denial. Source: http://www.selfknowledge.com/86346.htm

But what causes an excess of self-indulgence? What I am trying to get here is that perhaps an excess of self-indulgent behavior- eating, sleeping late, vegging out in front of the tv- is caused by depression or mild depression known as dysthymic disorder .

Can medicine cure self-indulgence, laziness, apathy, etc? Can medicine help us meet our goals? It is very tempting to want to believe this, when we feel like we cannot find the strength to change. We may keep spinning our wheels and not know why we just can't seem to get anything right.

Here is a really interesting explanation I found of depression. I am going to be ruminating on this idea for a long time, because although I studied depression in depth during my college studies, I have never heard it put quite this way:

Depression manifests as a result of doing things every day that aren't good for you. This may be spending long hours in a job you hate, or being trapped in a marriage with a partner you've given up on (or who has given up on you), or just being completely divorced from any sense of one's own being, being disconnected from what's real and true.
Depression is the inability to function (or be aware of) the present moment. Depression arises by being constantly burdened by the burdens of the past, or the perceived pressures of the future. It's in the reality of the Now (and also the only reality) that the key lies to salvation. It's in the Now that we need to be in order to not be depressed. Now is all we have, and all we will ever have. But being in the Now also requires us to face those things we've being trying to escape from (and escapism takes many forms, from listening to music, watching TV and movies, to reading, to sex, to shopping, to sleeping).
Source: http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=331458&rel_no=1

And perhaps this person's most poignant idea: Constantly chewing on thoughts that have no final answer (especially playing back unsolved mental dramas from the past) and depriving ourselves of meaningful answers and things to do (solutions in the present) is a highway to hell.


I want to write more on this later. For now, please read the entirety of that article above. I really approve of this article 100%.