Campaign
The disease was first described in an effort coordinated by Ray Moynihan when BMJ published a description of it for April Fool's Day in 2006. [1]
Fake neurologist "Leth Argos" is said to have described the disorder, finding that "extreme laziness may have a medical basis" and that "motivational deficiency disorder can be fatal, because the condition reduces the motivation to breathe." [1] Despite the condition being poorly understood, it is also "underdiagnosed and undertreated." [1] A person living with the condition complained that he would spend all day at the beach. [2]
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. [1] The original campaign also contained an advertisement for an issue of PLOS on disease mongering. [1]
In 2008 Consumers International revived the campaign to draw further attention to the issue of disease mongering. [3]
Although a spoof, some news outlets have reported the disease as if this were a real disorder. [4] [5] 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. [6]