Desai !

Casebook

My essay will address whether procrastination and mental health problems are linked or

correlated in any way. Are they linked psychologically? In addition, are there any similarities in

where they stem from anatomically? If not, what is the explanation for the differences? Is the

link universally accepted by the scientific community?

Cherry, Kendra. "The Psychology of Procrastination." Psychology Today, 30 June 2019,

www.verywellmind.com/the-psychology-of-procrastination-2795944. Accessed 25 July

2019.

Kendra Cherry’s June 30,2019 article on verywellmind.com, a psychological

webpage platform addresses the psychological explanation for procrastinatory habits,

explaining that procrastination is typically caused by misperception of time or task as

well as a lack of self confidence. Cherry proceeds to discuss the detrimental

consequences of procrastination on everyday life, and most relevant to my argument -

mental health - backed by a research study and makes the point that the distinguishing

point between people who do procrastinate and those that don’t is personality and drive.

She writes to the general public audience, most likely teens and working adults,

based on her fairly easy-to-understand rhetoric but uses cited statistics (most likely due to

the psychological website platform). The publication platform is entirely devoted to

psychological articles of a broad variety and the author has authored a psychology book,

written for several media outlets like The New York Times and CNN, and is a

psychosocial rehabilitation specialist.

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I plan to use the information I gleaned from this article to introduce the

psychological reasons behind why we procrastinate, the mental health effects of stress

caused by procrastination, and an explanation as to why some individuals procrastinate

while others do not.

Dixon, Emily. "Why Do People Procrastinate? A New Study Suggests It's A Lot To Do With

Your Brain." Bustle, 26 Aug. 2018, www.bustle.com/p/why-do-people-procrastinate-a-

new-study-suggests-its-a-lot-to-do-with-your-brain-10240547. Accessed 29 July 2019.

Emily Dixon’s August 26, 2018 article, "Why Do People Procrastinate? A New

Study Suggests It's A Lot To Do With Your Brain”, published on bustle.com, states that

the balance between the amygdala’s size and connection to the prefrontal cortex

(specifically the DACC) of the brain is the anatomical reason for procrastination. Having

a more active amygdala, Dixon states according to cited research, means apprehension

and doubt increases, leading to the override of the rational decision maker, the DACC,

then leading to increased procrastination. However, she also argues that anatomy does not

have to be the only determining factor in whether one procrastinates - good habits, like

concentrated meditation, can change the brain’s layout.

Based on diction and thorough explanations, Dixon’s audience is most likely

educated adults, because though she frequently uses medical jargon as she writes, an

explanation understandable to the public is provided in every scenario - especially since

the article addresses such a common habit and the article is complimented by a few GIFs.

However, all of her arguments are backed by evidence and and some studies are also
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hyperlinked. She is also an acclaimed journalist who has published on CNN, Time, and

The Guardian.

I plan to use this information to support my argument that procrastination stems

from anatomical structure and functions as well, and compare where common mental

health issues stem from anatomically to see if they stem from the same area in the brain.

Haycock, Laurel A., et al. "Procrastination in College Students: The Role of Self-Efficacy and

Anxiety." Wiley Online Library. Google Scholar, doi:10.1002/j.

1556-6676.1998.tb02548.x. Accessed 8 July 2019.

This December 23, 2011 academic article published by Laurel A. Haycock,

Patricia McCarthy, and Carol L. Skay on Wiley Online Library (I discovered this through

Google Scholar) is a publication of the result of the authors’ study of how college

students’ mindsets towards an important school project affected their appoach to

completing the project, finding that anxiety and expectations of how efficient they

thought they were going to be were individually linked to procrastination. Once the data

was interpreted mathematically, however, the most linked factor to procrastination was

how efficiently the students worked on the project, suggesting that the anxiety (mental

health) and expectation mindsets have a distant connection to procrastination and are not

directly linked.

This publication is written for an academic audience, providing study results and

is a credible source backed by detailed explanation. Haycock and McCarthy are

psychologists, McCarthy is a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota, and

Skay is an independent statistics consultant that assisted in reliably collecting data.

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I will use this primarily in addressing that there is the counterargument that mental

health issues and psychology aren’t universally accepted causes of procrastination by the

scientific community but are still linked, especially since both conditions are extremely

situation-based. I also plan to address that since this study is not as recent and therefore is

not as affected by the social media and mobile technology boom, as are several of the

counterarguments, this measure of connection is not as relevant today.

Pickhardt, Carl. "Procrastination: How Adolescents Encourage Stress." Psychology Today, 21

June 2009, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/surviving-your-childs-adolescence/

200906/procrastination-how-adolescents-encourage-stress. Accessed 29 July 2019.

Carl E. Pickhardt’s June 21, 2009 article “Procrastination: How Adolescents

Encourage Stress”, published on PsychologyToday.com, states that procrastination is

cyclic, meaning that that those (especially adolescents, but also adults) that argue that

procrastination increases time pressure, enhancing their performance and allows them to

take less time completing tasks, become more sleep deprived, burned out, and stressed in

the long run, especially when entering adulthood where the only person regulating their

actions is themself. Pickhardt suggests to gradually decrease procrastinating, reflecting

on its effects, or getting help from support groups in extreme cases.

Pickhardt writes so that the general audience can understand his writing, but the

article is published on Psychology Today’s website, where most educated adults looking

for psychology specific information would read. Pickhardt also has a Ph.D., is a Harvard

graduate (now a psychologist), and has written over 15 books on psychology and

parenting.
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I plan to use this information to address the counterargument that procrastination

enhances performance through increasing time pressure because it leads to eventual

burnout and repeated increases in stress levels - one of the primary causes of some

common mental health problems. I will also use this information to direct readers on how

to stop procrastinating to dodge such detrimental effects on mental health as Pickhardt

discusses.

Procrastination [Full Movie]. Produced by Aaron Rhodes, Smart Monkey Studios, 2018.

YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OhiLtKg2o4. Accessed 8 July 2019.

In this short film, entitled Procrastiination [Full Movie], produced by Aaron

Rhodes, published on YouTube.com on March 21, 2018, the main character portrays the

all too familiar reality of the cyclic nature of procrastination. The main character has an

outline due for his college class that he keeps delaying by distracting himself, then in turn

sleeping at odd hours, and the assignment is never finished though it hung over his head

all day. The film ends with the main character exhausted, grumpy, and the deliverer of the

famous line, “I’ll do it later”, the same thought process that landed him in this

uncomfortable position in the first place.

This film is designed for any audience - even a young child would be able to

comprehend the situation - but since it depicts a college student and was published on a

social media platform like YouTube, the audience is most likely high school or college

students. Since the film portrays such a relatable experience for most individuals in a

casual, but impactful way, it is a credible source to identify how connected

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procrastination is to negative habits like sleeping late, using technological devices for too

long, and eating unhealthily.

I plan to use this film as evidence to illustrate how procrastination works and how

it negatively impacts daily life, most likely in the concluding paragraph of my paper.

Pychyl, Timothy A. "Depression and Procrastination: What might explain this relation?"

Psychology Today, 21 June 2013, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/dont-delay/

201306/depression-and-procrastination. Accessed 8 July 2019.

Timothy A. Pychyl’s June 21, 2013 article “Depression and Procrastination: What

might explain this relation?”, published on PsychologyToday.com, asserts that depression

and procrastination are linked, because the constant lack of motivation characterizing

depression leads to less self-regulation and more delaying of tasks. Pychyl uses himself

as an example, narrating that the loss of his mother led to depression and putting off

tasks, but said that forcing himself to keep completing tasks brought him out of

procrastinatory cycle. He then cites Al Mele’s book Backsliding: Understanding

Weakness of Will, and finally makes the point that self-regulation and discipline is key in

relatively decreasing depression by lessening the pile of tasks that one delays.

Pycl’s audience is primarily adults interested in psychology since it is published

on the Psychology Today online platform, but the general pre-adult to adult audience

could also be interested in this article due to the currency and relevance of the topic,

though the article was published in 2013 as mental health becomes more widely

recognized in today’s society. Pychyl is a credible source and author, possessing a

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doctorate degree and holding a position as a psychology professor at Carleton University

in Ottawa, Canada.

I plan to use this information to help explain the link between mental health

problems and procrastination as well as how they are linked in a dual-way connection.

Depression motivates people to delay tasks, and having an backlog of tasks leads to stress

and then in some cases, depression. I also plan to use the segment of the article that states

that self-regulation is key to overcoming both linked depression and procrastination.

Stead, Rebecca, et al. "'I'll go to therapy, eventually': Procrastination, stress and mental health."

Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 49, no. 3, Aug. 2010, pp. 175-80.

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.03.028. Accessed 8 July 2019.

Rebecca Stead, Matthew J. Shanahan, and Richard W. J. Neufeld’s August 2010

publication “‘I’ll go to therapy, eventually’: Procrastination, stress and mental health”,

accessed on the EBSCOhost database, discusses the results of undergraduate online

surveys, making the observation that stress and procrastination were linked to worse

states of mental health, men are less likely to seek help for mental health issues, and

individuals with poorer mental health were more likely to put off seeking help for their

conditions. Once again, the authors address the cyclic connection and nature of the link

between mental health and procrastination.

The publication has an academic audience, especially since it publishes the results

of a study on an educational database. The authors are all part of the Department of

Psychology of The University of Western Ontario and provide substantial research results

to back their claim.

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I plan to use the information from this publication to statistically support my

argument that procrastination and mental health problems are linked both ways - one can

lead to another, vice versa after I explain what procrastination and mental health is

individually.