Motivational deficiency disorder is the name of a fake disease imagined for a

health campaign A health campaign is a type of media campaign which attempts to promote public health by making new health interventions available. The organizers of a health campaign frequently use education along with an opportunity to participate further, such ...

to raise awareness of

disease mongering Disease mongering is a pejorative term for the practice of widening the diagnostic boundaries of illnesses and aggressively promoting their public awareness in order to expand the markets for treatment. Among the entities benefiting from selling a ...

Campaign

The disease was first described in an effort coordinated by

Ray Moynihan Ray Moynihan is an Australian researcher, health journalist, documentary-maker and author. Employed for many years as an investigative journalist at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, he has also worked for the Australian Financial Review a ...

when ''

BMJ ''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origina ...

'' published a description of it for

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

in 2006. Fake neurologist "Leth Argos" is said to have described the disorder, finding that "extreme

laziness Laziness (also known as indolence) is disinclination to activity or exertion despite having the ability to act or to exert oneself. It is often used as a pejorative; terms for a person seen to be lazy include "couch potato", "slacker", and "b ...

may have a medical basis" and that "motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe." Despite the condition being poorly understood, it is also "underdiagnosed and undertreated." A person living with the condition complained that he would spend all day at the beach. In the original campaign medical marketers recommended treating the disease with a drug called "Indolebant". They presented a case study in which a lazy man who took the drug then got off his sofa to begin a job as an investment adviser. The original campaign also contained an advertisement for an issue of ''

PLOS PLOS (for Public Library of Science; PLoS until 2012 ) is a nonprofit publisher of open-access journals in science, technology, and medicine and other scientific literature, under an open-content license. It was founded in 2000 and launc ...

'' on

. In 2008

Consumers International Consumers International is the membership organization for consumer groups around the world. Founded on 1 April 1960, it has over 250 member organizations in 120 countries. Its head office is situated in London, England, and has numerous region ...

revived the campaign to draw further attention to the issue of disease mongering. Although a spoof, some news outlets have reported the disease as if this were a real disorder. The disease was invented and presented to the public as a demonstration that some media outlets are willing to publish sensational health stories and that people respond with worry when they do.

References

{{reflist

External links

4-minute report about motivational deficiency disorder

1-minute video advertising a drug to treat motivational deficiency disorder

issue of PLOS advertised in original article

April Fools' Day Health campaigns Unnecessary health care Motivation 2006 in mass media