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March 3, 2021

6 Signs it’s Not Burnout or “Pandemic Fatigue”—it’s Depression.

*Editor’s Note: Elephant is not your doctor or hospital. Our lawyers would say “this website is not designed to, and should not be construed to provide medical advice, professional diagnosis, opinion, or treatment to you or any other individual, and is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional care and treatment. Always consult a health professional before trying out new home therapies or changing your diet.” But we can’t afford lawyers, and you knew all that. ~ Ed.

If you’re feeling burned out, lazy, and unmotivated—you’re not alone.

Anxiety, insomnia, boredom, drug use, and mental health concerns on pretty much all ends of the spectrum have increased in the last year.

But we all have days when the dishes pile up. When pizza sounds better than going for a run. When choosing yoga pants has little to nothing to do with their namesake activity.

That’s normal—and sometimes, it’s even healthy.

So how do we know when it crosses the line into something more serious?

When we’re going on week three of takeout, when moving our body just doesn’t seem possible, when we’ve lost all interest in life outside of our cocoon of cozy blankets—it might be time to think about what’s hiding beneath the surface.

Here are six signs that laziness you’re feeling might not be laziness at all:

If it does feel like you’ve just slipped into a funk and there isn’t anything more serious going on, sometimes all it takes is acknowledging all the stuff we’ve been shoving into the back of our minds.

We do this all the time without even realizing it:

Stressed about a work project? Not if I’m not thinking about it, I’ll just veg out on Netflix. 

Stressed about home stuff? I’ll think about it later, my to-do list is out of control.

Feeling lonely? Nah, I’ve got the whole world at my fingertips, I’ll just scroll through my phone.

Those might help in the moment, but when the Netflix binge is over, the final to-do is checked off, and your phone shames you into putting it down with those pesky screentime reminders, all that stuff is still there, weighing on those dark corners of our hearts and minds.

Take three minutes, try this, and feel that heaviness lift off of your heart:

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