Have you ever been called lazy? Maybe it was by your parents, teachers, or friends. How did it make you feel? Perhaps you felt troubled or even confused as to why they said that. Imagine you and your other friends want to meet at your friend Melany’s house for a little girl's night out. You keep on asking and by the third time, she accepts. When you get there, you see her living room looks like it hasn’t been cleaned for a while. Her sink is filled with many dirty dishes and her pet cat seems to not have been groomed for a while. One of your friends makes a little remark about her home, saying that Melany’s home is very gross to look at. "Messy." Melany seems to be a sloth. Unfortunately, Melany heard what your friend said about her, and she makes a saddened face. What is wrong in this situation?
In the case above, it seems that Melany’s friends are close-minded to Melany’s situation. Alongside their close-mindedness, the friends were being rude to Melany. So lies the question: What does it mean to be called lazy? Nowadays, we live in a workaholic and capitalist-like society. Our value is based on how productive we are.
Despite how the pressure to be productive affects us today, being lazy is a basic human thing. As humans, everybody has those days, everybody feels that way, and it is perfectly fine to feel like that. You shouldn’t feel pressured to be the best side of yourself every single day because human perfection doesn’t necessarily mean flawless. Perfection can also mean improvement and refinement, but how can you refine or improve yourself without giving yourself days for yourself? You can’t. In conclusion, laziness is perfection.
So how does the “lazy” myth impact those with mental illness? Well, although the word lazy is often used with a negative connotation in everyday speech, the word can also be an indicator of mental health like anxiety, depression, and stress. Due to the normalization of using the word lazy in everyday speech when referring to someone having a bad day or just not being productive, many people don’t realize when someone is showing negative signs of their mental health. If people can’t differentiate whether or not someone is going through a normal bad day or going through mental health problems, then people with mental illness may not be able to easily look for help for their condition. If people with mental illness are not able to look for help, then they may not be able to recover or get the proper treatment needed for them, causing them to resort to dangerous and worrisome alternatives.
So what can we do instead of labeling others as lazy? Instead of calling someone lazy for not looking perfect or being productive, we should ask them how they are feeling and how we can help them. Overall, we should become more open-minded. It is important to remember that everyone is going through something, so we must be considerate of their possible situation. However, we should not assume, since assuming can lead to situations escalating and more problems. In conclusion, we should stop labeling others, be considerate of others, and stop using the negative connotation of lazy.
Citations
The Stigma Behind Laziness & its Impact on Mental Health. (2021, July 6). AWARE. http://aware-ae.com/the-stigma-behind-laziness-its-impact-on-m ental-health/
Forman, H. L., MD. (2022, January 28). Laziness Does Not Exist. Psychiatric Times. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/laziness-does-not-exist
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