Is lack of motivation a mental disorder?
Lack of motivation is not a mental disorder. However, people experiencing psychiatric problems may lack motivation to change or seek help for their problems. Also, symptoms of particular psychiatric disorders may mimic signs of poor motivation. For example, people who are depressed suffer from anhedonia (the inability to experience pleasure from normally enjoyable experiences) and often feel hopeless, indecisive, and physically slowed down. Because of these symptoms individuals may seem like they do not want to improve their lives. It is important to keep in mind that most people want to improve the quality of their lives, but may have a difficult time doing so. It takes practice using new tools and incorporating new behaviors to improve and/or increase motivation.
