Depression affects people in all walks of life, regardless of their social status. People normally stigmatize depression as an excuse for the indolent and as non-severe. However, depression is a severe mental health issue that affects a person’s ability to focus, rationalize, and think. Continue reading to learn more about the link between depression and motivation.
Depression typically exists together with other mental health issues like mania and anxiety. These make treatment for depression and its effects difficult to handle. In this post, we will look at the effects of depression on motivation and why it is necessary to seek treatment for depression.
In most cases, depressed people suffer from failing grades or truancy. Not that they are unintelligent. Depression affects a person’s ability to be motivated, leading to procrastination or inactivity.
The major symptom of depression is a lack of motivation. It interferes with your work life, social life, and school life. Doing simple tasks like brushing your teeth becomes problematic when you are not motivated. When a person’s motivation diminishes, the other aspects of their life diminish.
The Effects of Depression on Motivation
Lack of concentration
Your brain becomes unstable when depressed, notably in the hippocampus and the amygdala. It ends up affecting a person’s attention span. Therefore, it becomes hard for a person to focus on a task or recall the instructions. The lack of concentration ends up damaging your school or work performance. It makes it increasingly difficult to be motivated to complete these tasks.
Procrastination
Procrastinating activities end up robbing a person of time that they would have otherwise used to complete the task. It ends up affecting a person’s productivity. For instance, many people set alarms to wake up in the morning but rarely wake up. They put off the alarm or change the timings in the morning. Ultimately, they end up late because they did not adhere to the time they had already set.
Depression can cause procrastination. However, doing nothing can make the depression worse. When it hits, a person cannot do or complete any task. This may cause a tremendous loss financially or be detrimental to a person’s career development.
Reduced reward expectancy
Depression makes a person expect low rewards for their work or positive behavior. Therefore, a person becomes unsatisfied with their performance. One feels or believes that they will gain less even if they do their best to accomplish or finish some task. Hence, it is hard for a person to finish anything.
Physical exhaustion
Neurotransmitter deficiency, either norepinephrine or serotonin, causes depression. The deficiency of these neurotransmitters in the brain may cause both physiological and psychological symptoms. Fatigue or lack of energy are usually related to depression. Therefore, it makes it hard for a person to motivate themselves to perform the simplest tasks like getting off the bed.
Lack of interest
One symptom that you may have major depression is the loss of interest (Anhedonia). When suffering from anhedonia, a person does not get pleasure from the interests that generally exit the brain’s pleasure centers. Such activities include food, sex, or even hobbies. Because they lack the pleasure to undertake these activities, people suffering from depression are not motivated to do them.
Conclusion
Depression is a monster whose only treatment is slaying it. It affects people regardless of their age or social life. By taking away a person’s motivation, depression can cause hunger, poverty, and financial problems. Do you suspect you, a close friend or relative, are suffering from depression? The effects of depression are many, as we saw above. Seek treatment for depression from the nearest counselor to avoid future more harmful impacts.
Visit my website to learn more about mental health issues, their impacts, and how to overcome them. Are you suffering with depression and motivation issues or any mental health problems? If you are in Chandler, Arizona, contact me for consultation and counseling. Take a step now to save your future, do not give depression a chance.