It’s this feeling that lately I’ve been getting before doing pretty much anything that isn’t laying in bed. It’s this feeling of dread like I was just told I have to get punched in the face or run a marathon or something. And I get that reaction for something as simple as getting dressed. Today it was incredibly difficult to get out of bed to go study and I hate it. It makes life feel like slogging through mud because I experience so much internal resistance to doing anything. What is this? I was musing to myself that it was like laziness suddenly started carrying a spiked club, so not only do I not want to do anything, it’s painful just thinking about doing it. Is it anxiety? Amotivation? I don’t know. I have a hard time explaining it to my therapist.
Antipsychotic induced avolition.
Is avolition painful?
It’s just a lack of desire/ability to do stuff, just like you described.
But it’s like doing things is painful and requires a painful amount of effort to do. I guess it’s tied in with my depression somehow.
I can’t find anything about antipsychotics causing avolition but I started getting it really bad when I upped my dose to 10 mg of Abilify. Now it’s getting bad again now that I’m on Risperdal. Bahhh. Maybe I shouldn’t be on antipsychotics??
I really think you should give Vraylar a go. Based on what others have said it’s good as an antipsychotic and helps with avolition and doesn’t have a problem with anxiety.
The only thing people have reported so far is problems with sleep, but you might not get that side effect.
But as you can see, finding the right antipsychotic isn’t easy, and you might need to accept trade offs.
I know this feeling well.
A couple of years back I felt like I was constantly wading through water when I walked, even small distances.
I would sleep for about 12-15 hours a day if I could, when work didn’t get in the way. And If I did say 15 minutes on the exercise bike, I would sleep for an hour immediately after.
I had low-ish iron, not anemia but on the low side of normal. But my doctor thought I had chronic fatigue syndrome also.
It could be avolition caused by the illness or by meds, but it could be something else too. Best to go to the GP and get it checked out.