“Tomorrow. I’ll start being a super hero, first thing tomorrow…”

The Mask: What Revenge Means to Me, from Mayhem #2, June 1989
Writer: John Arcudi, Artist: Doug Mahnke

thatqueercryptid:

people have a tendency to think/act like executive dysfunction is just laziness, and theres a lot of posts on a lot of platforms disputing that idea, but im just gonna share something that happened to me this morning, because i think its worth sharing. i got up, took my meds, went downstairs and made myself breakfast. i sat down at the table to eat, and i stopped. not because id forgotten something, or because anything happened, i just, stopped. i was hungry, i was consciously aware of the fact that i was hungry, and there was food right in front of me. so i sat there, not doing anything, for at least ten minutes, because my brain would not let me eat. thats not laziness, even if laziness were real(which i really dont think it is), thats not it. so no, executive dysfunction is not just being lazy, because if it was it wouldnt have taken me ten minutes to start eating the toast on the plate right in front of me when i was hungry.

Yeah, to me lazy is an act of choice. You don’t care about dishes because the maid cleans them, so you chooseto lounge or nap instead. I’m sure laziness exists, I have no doubts, and it can be enabled. Having someone do everything for you, giving you the free choice to either be active or be lazy, is an enabler.

But the lazy itself is a choice. It’s in the definition of the word. You’re lazy so you buy food pre-made rather than make your own. It’s nothing negative.

To me, it’s no longer lazy when someone wants to do something, but can’t or is stopped by a barrier, psychological or otherwise. I want to get up and shower, I know I will feel better after, not getting up makes me feel physically ill and yet I can’t even stand up from the chair. It makes me feel progressively worse. I really want to, but I can’t get my body to move.

It’s unfair to label me as lazy, it’s not my choice and I find it distressing enough without being labeled as such.

For context, you can have executive dysfunction and be lazy too. For me, executive dysfunction is one of the hardest to cope with symptom of ADHD. It paralyzes me so much that sometimes I can’t even go to the toilet because I can’t get up off the chair. I want to play a game but I can’t get myself to start it. I’m also lazy about plenty of stuff lol. I’m too lazy to cook for example. It’s not something I enjoy, and although I could do it, and I have done it, it’s not my thing, and it’s not a necessity. I can recognize and admit it. It’s my own choice. My boyfriend cooks instead because it’s something he enjoys. Prior to meeting him, I was eating prepackaged foods, not because I couldn’t cook, but because I had no interest in it. I’m lazy about going out after working all day. I can do it, I sometimes do it, but the majority of time, I don’t want to do it, because I prefer relaxing and watching TV. I know it would be healthy for me to go out more, but I don’t, by choice.

So yeah. In essence…
It’s the difference between unableandunwilling.

This changed me too…most times we’re asking the wrong questions.

Or every day.

Taxation is notcharity.

jeanjauthor:

trainzelda:

margomoment:

how do u tell the difference between executive dysfunction, procrastination, and laziness bc fuck idk how to

Idk if you were actually looking for an answer but I talk about this with my therapist a lot so heres his wisdom:

Laziness=You don’t want to do a task, so you choose not to, and you’re fine with that. You either dont care if it gets done or you figure someone else will do it.

Procrastination=You want to do the task, but you put it off because it seems difficult/boring/time consuming.

Executive dysfunction=You want to do the task, and intend to at that very moment. There is no significant reason not to, but you can’t because your brain is having difficulty transitioning between activities.

The key difference, he points out, is that if you experience guilt or shame from not doing it, then it’s NOT laziness, because those feelings indicate, on some level, a desire to complete the task.

The latter two have more overlap imo, but for myself, I think of it as whether you are having trouble confronting the task itself, or just the transition.

An excellent explanation!