QuoteExtreme laziness is a medical condition called motivational deficiency disorder (MoDeD), say Australian researchers.
At least that's according to a report in the 1 April issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
The condition affects up to one in five Australians and is characterised by overwhelming and debilitating apathy, reports Sydney-based journalist and author Ray Moynihan.
In severe cases it can be fatal because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe, his report adds. :-D
Professor Leth Argos, a neuroscientist at the University of Newcastle, reportedly identified the new disorder.
It's diagnosed using a combination of positron emission tomography and low scores on a motivation rating scale, previously validated in elite athletes.
Drug available to treat condition
Argos has also been advising a small Australian biotechnology company called Healthtec, which has had promising trial results of the new drug indolebant, designed to help people with the condition, reports Moynihan.
"One young man who could not leave his sofa is now working as an investment adviser in Sydney," Argos told the BMJ.
Moynihan reports MoDeD costs the Australian economy around A$2.4 billion (US$1.7 billion) a year in lost productivity, a fact that has prompted industry and advocacy groups to fast-track indolebant's regulatory assessment.
But Moynihan also warns that some researchers, such as Professor David Henry of the University of Newcastle, are concerned that ordinary laziness is being medicalised.
While some extreme sufferers of MoDeD may benefit from indolebant, common laziness is not a disease, says Henry, a long-time critic of pharmaceutical marketing strategies.
Some people might have a genuinely debilitating form of MoDeD but others are just plain lazy and have "an absolute right to just sit there", he says.
Henry has organised a conference to highlight what he calls "disease mongering" and MoDeD will be one of the conditions discussed there as part of an "educational exercise".
Reclusive researcher
ABC Science Online was unable to reach Professor Leth Argos or find him listed on the University of Newcastle website.
But it secured an interview with Moynihan, who, as it turns out, is also involved in organising the conference on disease mongering.
Moynihan described Argos as "reclusive" but "utterly brilliant".
"He cured me," says Moynihan, reluctantly acknowledging that he once suffered from MoDeD but has "gotten much better" since participating in the indolebant trial.
Despite his miraculous recovery from the disease, Moynihan is critical of the role of Healthtec's promotion of MoDeD and what he calls the "corporate-sponsored creation of illness".
"[Healthtec has] hired a large global PR company to develop a secret marketing campaign to convince everyone that laziness is a disease and that's problematic," says Moynihan.
Real suffering
But, he says, as his own experience shows, this does not mean there are not some "legitimate sufferers" of MoDeD who have real hardship and suffering.
"In almost any condition you take there are people at the severe end of the spectrum who benefit greatly from a medical label and from therapy including medication," he says.
And he invites all parties to openly debate the issue of disease mongering in the interest of public health.
"I think that people who react negatively to this debate about disease mongering do a disservice to the genuinely ill," he says.
The Inaugural Conference on Disease-Mongering will be hosted by the University of Newcastle on 11-13 April.
You gotta be farging kidding me. :-D
i think this means i can start legitimately call out sick to sit on my ass and do nothing all day
Does this explain why I avoid work and post on message boards across the interents all day?
I've so totally got this disease. I'm putting a claim in with the V.A. right away and seeing if I can get medically retired. Good thing my benefits will all be paid via direct deposit because I'd be way too lazy sick to go to the bank and cash it.
I'm actually too lazy to read it. I'm farged.
Grrr....it's already April 1st in Australia. DOH!
I swear when I've heard of this before as Motivational Deficiency Sydrome.
No, I think that's actually the same thing as P.M.S.