1 Lazy: You don't want to.
Depressed: You don't care . . . among other things.

2 That's a pretty damn astute observation. The line is really thin, if it's really there at all.

3 Lazy is a character issue.
True depression is a psychological one.
The line is blurred, I think, when a depressed person labels themselves as such and uses that label as a badge of permission to not do what they didn't want to do in the first place. Then, yeah, it gets awfully hazy.
"I can't go get a job today... I'm depressed" sounds an awful lot better than " I don't feel like messing with it today, I'd rather sit on the couch and watch TV".
I am kind of fartin' around with this, but there really is real depression and it's a bitch to deal with.
Great question. This is like discussing an emotional case of whiplash, isn't it? You have these symptoms but no real way of testing for it or getting to the root of it 'cause laziness and depression can sure pass for twins at times.

4 I agree with Larry. Lazy is a character issue and depression is a psychological one. Sometimes I'm lazy on weekends, but I'm not depressed. Sometimes I'm lazy during the week, but I'm not depressed. I can be lazy, and life is still good. Know what I mean?

Depression is when you believe "life is not good". To me, there is a huge difference.

Hell, I'm feeling pretty lazy right now...but life is good! I feel great.

Great Question...

5 Yeah, they do overlap quite a bit.
It's no secret that I hang out with depression 24/7. I say hang out, because 'deal, fight or struggle with' might be an exaggeration, I think. I do try, with a buddy, to figure it out and not let it be in control, but it pretty much is most of the time. I still laugh at shit and make jokes whenever possible, but I don't do things like I used to. Mainly cleaning the house. That, I think, is me being lazy.
It does bother me that it's not right in here, but I just keep putting it all off, anyway. Then I just get and stay pissed at myself for not doing it, which feeds the 'life sucks' thing, which...round and round we go...where she falls off...is right here, I hope.
Mad Bill gave me a great idea that I had blocked completely. He suggested a list. It didn't occur to me to try it because my mom had lists of lists and I purposely try to not be like her. But, I made one and it's working. So far...lol.
Anyway, it's good to know that the two are kinda tangled up together. I thought they were. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being patently lazy and just blaming the depression.
Thanks, guys!

6 To invert what Larry said, when you're depressed and find it hard to get started, you get down on yourself, start calling yourself lazy. That doesn't help you feel any better, but the thing about depression is somehow it makes you feel like it's ALL your fault somehow.

Making lists didn't work for me, but whatever works for you, you go, girl.

7 Great point, Mr. Useless. Very well put.
I am realizing that it's hard to speak in absolutes in things like this because our minds are just so damned complex. What works for one becomes the destruction of another. I guess these differences between us keep life interesting... well, it keeps me trying to figure things out anyway.
It's like trying to nail jello to a wall, or herding cats.. lol.. just can't quite do it. But we still try.
Whew, the list thing... it helped me for awhile.. then it just became an accusation of how much of a fuck-up I was when I couldn't do all I thought I could the night before when I wrote it up in a burst of misguided zeal. So I had to stop making with the lists... or write shorter lists.
Wow, good points here. Thanks for getting this discussion going, Stevie.

8 Brain chemistry is weird, emotion won't yield to logic. Thanks for the response, Larry. I went pretty much the same route with making lists and swearing _this_ time nothing was gonna stop me from doing it all.