I have been in a good mood lately. Yesterday was a little down, but generally I feel good right now, I’m interacting with my children well, and I am getting along with people. This is all good.

The problem is that I have no motivation to do anything at all.

So my question for the day is this: at what point does one look at the symptoms of depression and say, “yep, that’s a part of my illness,” and then at what point do you say, “get off your butt and get to work!”

I don’t like the idea of blaming every mood swing, every lack of motivation or odd behavior on the disease. There must be a sense of personal responsibility as well. Otherwise, we end up like the song from West Side Story:

:

Officer Krupke, you’re really a square;
This boy don’t need a judge, he needs an analyst’s care!
It’s just his neurosis that oughta be curbed.
He’s psychologic’ly disturbed!

ACTION
I’m disturbed!

JETS
We’re disturbed, we’re disturbed,
We’re the most disturbed,
Like we’re psychologic’ly disturbed.

So how do we draw that line as Christians? Sickness is the result of sin, and yet sin is also my own responsibility. I am trapped by the Fall, yet I participate in that same Fall every day. Maybe my problem is that I just want someone or something to blame other than myself.

So am I nuts here?

-DMR