> > SSRIs make me even more lazy, which results in anxiety about not doing anything and failing responsibilities.
> I understand. Even genuinely useful medications often help with one aspect of a condition (usually one that inhibits participation in society or the economy— an aspect whose costs are substantially external) and actively exacerbate others (typically aspects whose costs are primarily internal to us).
I've had the same notion on societal participation, nice to see that same thought brought up by somebody else. That said, from personal experience, I've had SSRIs bring me back to normal without significant downsides starting from a pretty bad starting point. (Where normal does still involve ups and downs but with a pretty solid bottom to the downs at a more or less acceptable level.) So that is a possibility. There needn't be a trade off.
What I can imagine is that the perceived negative effects by the original commenter are actually a result of the medication doing its work. Elsewhere in these comments others have pointed out the use of what I would call their negative gas pedal: i.e. powering through tasks based on anxiety, negative self talk and/or shame. I've used that "pedal" a lot in my life, always with positive short term effects ("getting things done") and negative long terms effects ("burning out" or more precisely blowing out my motivational faculties). I suppose SSRIs by virtue of dampening the anxiety, negative thoughts and shame, could cause this negative "gas pedal" to falter, resulting in a feeling of having no aim at all because the main means of moving forward has stopped functioning. Going back to the article, I think it is ineffective to label that as "lazy". I think it is better to see it as a period that allows motivational faculties to restart based on what another commenter called "desire". That is a term which I personally dislike based on my philosophical convictions, so I'd prefer to call it "inspiration" or "drive".
I've had the same notion on societal participation, nice to see that same thought brought up by somebody else. That said, from personal experience, I've had SSRIs bring me back to normal without significant downsides starting from a pretty bad starting point. (Where normal does still involve ups and downs but with a pretty solid bottom to the downs at a more or less acceptable level.) So that is a possibility. There needn't be a trade off.
What I can imagine is that the perceived negative effects by the original commenter are actually a result of the medication doing its work. Elsewhere in these comments others have pointed out the use of what I would call their negative gas pedal: i.e. powering through tasks based on anxiety, negative self talk and/or shame. I've used that "pedal" a lot in my life, always with positive short term effects ("getting things done") and negative long terms effects ("burning out" or more precisely blowing out my motivational faculties). I suppose SSRIs by virtue of dampening the anxiety, negative thoughts and shame, could cause this negative "gas pedal" to falter, resulting in a feeling of having no aim at all because the main means of moving forward has stopped functioning. Going back to the article, I think it is ineffective to label that as "lazy". I think it is better to see it as a period that allows motivational faculties to restart based on what another commenter called "desire". That is a term which I personally dislike based on my philosophical convictions, so I'd prefer to call it "inspiration" or "drive".