# Why is motivation so hard on these meds? **URL:** \ **Category:** Medications\ **Created:** [December 19, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560 "2025-12-19T14:01:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speedy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/speedy/32/145_2.png) [@Speedy](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Speedy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 2:01pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/1 "2025-12-19T14:01:29Z")
I lack motivation on these meds. I think olanzapine is the culprit. I’m thinking of lowering olanzapine and taking a higher dose of Vraylar. I’m going to ask my doctor about it the next time I see him. Do you have the same issue? Did you regain motivation somehow? ---
**Author:** ![anon2524392](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@anon2524392](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/anon2524392)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 2:08pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/2 "2025-12-19T14:08:53Z")
I understand all too well! I can’t get my butt up to go to a party I’d be paid to attend. 😩 ETA: My motivation has been so much better on Abilify. Another big component for my was returning to school; I needed purpose, not just medication. I feel like I’ve gained myself back. ---
**Author:** ![SzSupportAdmin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/szsupportadmin/32/334_2.png) [@SzSupportAdmin](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/SzSupportAdmin)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 2:15pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/3 "2025-12-19T14:15:18Z")
Some of it may be the disorder itself and not the meds. I always do better on partial dopamine agonist, IMO. I wont go on anything but. I have regained motivation at times, yes. I had a few months where I was really moving. Nowadays I seem to have spurts on and off. ---
**Author:** ![Om\_Sadasiva](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/om_sadasiva/32/179_2.png) [@Om\_Sadasiva](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Om_Sadasiva)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/4 "2025-12-19T15:18:34Z")
I don’t know if I lack motivation or if I’m lazy ---
**Author:** ![Om\_Sadasiva](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/om_sadasiva/32/179_2.png) [@Om\_Sadasiva](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Om_Sadasiva)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/5 "2025-12-19T15:28:27Z")
I mostly spend my time on couch and bed. I don’t find it healthy. Maybe it’s the sz ---
**Author:** ![2Waynez](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/2waynez/32/176_2.png) [@2Waynez](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/2Waynez)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/6 "2025-12-19T15:39:21Z")
My grandpa retired at 55 back in the good old days and he would take vacations and ate like a monster. He was an executive at Ford and was in the navy. He told me he mostly sat around the house. He never exercised. He was at one point 300 and some pounds, he went on a diet and went down to 140 pounds. He lived till 95, 96. I think life is mostly genetics. He never had cancer. But he did have his gall bladder out and had meckel’s diverticulum. When he worked he worked a lot and travelled a lot for his job but come on people gotta retire at 70 now and they say we’re running low on social security. Politicians raided that account multiple times but they scrubbed it from the internet. That’s some 1984 shiznit. Good things. ---
**Author:** ![Vinegar](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/vinegar/32/178_2.png) [@Vinegar](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Vinegar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/7 "2025-12-19T15:50:07Z")
I lack motivation to do anything in the evening because my medication makes me so sleepy. I take it with my dinner and by 8pm I am falling asleep. ---
**Author:** ![tarnishedLotus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/tarnishedlotus/32/9331_2.png) [@tarnishedLotus](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/tarnishedLotus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/8 "2025-12-19T18:02:17Z")
Im starting to have them on luvox. Abilify boosted my motivation alot but now that i started luvox I lay on the bed and just do nothing half the day. Im hoping for me that its temperature. Also..I definitely had motivation issues on zyprexa!!! Maybe you can get on welbutrin? ---
**Author:** ![shutterbug](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/shutterbug/32/900_2.png) [@shutterbug](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/shutterbug)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:11pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/9 "2025-12-19T18:11:13Z")
I make schedules and stick to them no matter how tired I am. Overcoming motivation issues is a learned habit. I can be half dead and I still go for the walk because I baked in the habit. Once I get moving I can keep moving. ---
**Author:** ![Speedy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/speedy/32/145_2.png) [@Speedy](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Speedy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:13pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/10 "2025-12-19T18:13:14Z")
> [@shutterbug](#): > > Once I get moving I can keep moving. I’ll remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Speedy](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/speedy/32/145_2.png) [@Speedy](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Speedy)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/11 "2025-12-19T18:22:42Z")
> [@tarnishedLotus](#): > > welbutrin? I’ve read that it can worsen anxiety. ---
**Author:** ![tarnishedLotus](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/tarnishedlotus/32/9331_2.png) [@tarnishedLotus](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/tarnishedLotus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/12 "2025-12-19T18:34:30Z")
Yea.. I think anxiety and aggression/agitation but not always. I think i would be pretty apathetic and depressed without it tho ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/zoe/32/7475_2.png) [@Zoe](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/13 "2025-12-19T18:35:08Z")
I am not sure but i think antipsychotics ‘re balance’ our dopamime levels and so forth. I think dopamine plays a role in attention. Perhaps some of the other neurotransmitters affected by the ap also alter motivation. Strange!, to think that a chemical pill can change our motivation/ ability to do things. But i think u might be right, if u can find steps and intrinsic logic behind y u wanna do somink, then that can provide a push. N someone said once in momentum, it may encourage momentum, tho im not sure, but it does sound appealing. ---
**Author:** ![Mars](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/mars/32/4869_2.png) [@Mars](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Mars)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 3:59pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/14 "2025-12-20T15:59:11Z")
For me it’s the illness not the meds. My motivation decreased before I was medicated and it’s been like that ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Eternalaether](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/eternalaether/32/85_2.png) [@Eternalaether](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Eternalaether)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/15 "2025-12-20T19:20:17Z")
My motivation is normal but probably lowered on meds. Meds are pure poison for the mind. ---
**Author:** ![POET](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/poet/32/485_2.png) [@POET](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/POET)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/16 "2025-12-20T19:23:52Z")
for me its not so much about motivation as it is about movement. movement is just harder i guess… doing things in general. thats what ap’s are… essentially tranquilizers… theyve gotten more advanced over the years but imo thats what they do in a nutshell… they reduce dopamine in certain brain regions and dopamine is an important neurotransmitter for initiating movement. So meds naturally will cause a bit of that difficulty with initiating tasks. One thing that helps me is exercise…i feel it gets the ball rolling a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Wave](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/wave/32/14465_2.png) [@Wave](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/Wave)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2025, 9:52am UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/17 "2025-12-21T09:52:15Z")
Some of it is the medications but a lot of the lack of motivation is from the disorder itself. It’s a combination of both. Sometimes it’s plain old depression ---
**Author:** ![SzSupportAdmin](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex012/user_avatar/schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/szsupportadmin/32/334_2.png) [@SzSupportAdmin](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/u/SzSupportAdmin)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2025, 9:21am UTC](https://schizophreniasupport.discourse.group/t/why-is-motivation-so-hard-on-these-meds/560/18 "2025-12-27T09:21:09Z")