Apathy is a signal from the human body about exhaustion, not only psychological, but also physical. Apathy can also manifest itself in autumn depression and other types of depression. When the first signs appear, you need to think about how to fight apathy and defeat this silent but insidious enemy. To do this, you need to make an effort and start acting.
In order to cope with this condition, which prevents you from actively engaging in daily activities, reduces productivity and takes away your energy, you need to use a few simple techniques.
Apathy is a state of dispassion and indifference to oneself and to everything around. Don't confuse it with laziness. Because laziness is when you want to, but there is no desire to exert yourself, and apathy is when there is not even the desire itself.
As a rule, apathy that is not cured in time leads to depression, so do not delay the fight against this illness. Of course, when your life schedule is so packed with events that there are not enough hours in the day, apathy is inevitable.
The body needs to cope with the burden that has piled up, and in order to gain strength, it puts us into “offline mode.” It is even useful to be detached for some time, but if you realize that your detachment is dragging on, pull yourself together and begin to remove your body from this state.
How to deal with depression and apathy on your own
As mentioned above, for the first time (a day or two) mope for your own pleasure, cry, feel sorry for yourself, don’t think about problems. Try to feel everything that has accumulated so that it is exhausted without a trace. After the stage of pity and tearfulness comes the mobilization of the body and the desire to act, change something, do something. This will be the next step.
If you are determined to fight apathy, then activate all your strengths and desires through “I don’t want.” Remember everything that gives you pleasure and move on to action. Buy something you've been dreaming of for a long time, go to some fun events, eat something delicious, treat yourself. In short, go in search of good emotions.
Spend more time in the fresh air, walk in parks, on embankments, or go out of town. Listen to pleasant music, watch your favorite funny movies, do something new. For example, you can sign up for art or dance classes, buy an aquarium with fish, or play sports. Physical activity combined with fresh air has a positive effect on both the nervous system and overall health.
In addition to pleasures and pampering, move on to active actions at work and at home, remember how many important things were abandoned while you were moping. Work, especially non-mechanical and monotonous work, miraculously cures any apathy. You will be involved in solving everyday problems with renewed vigor and life will be filled with colors again. To effectively combat apathy, eat foods containing protein, as it contains dopamine and serotonin - joy hormones that activate the nervous system.
In order not to fall into apathy later and enjoy life, try to rest on time, pay attention to your favorite activities and be distracted from the daily routine.
First of all, you should make a plan for the daily tasks that must be done. This could include cooking, cleaning, laundry, childcare and much more depending on lifestyle and marital status.
Playing sports and walking outdoors in any weather is a prerequisite for combating apathy. At this time, the body produces a certain hormone that is responsible for well-being. In addition, a person gets used to actively moving, and not lying on the sofa with a book in his hands. If you have absolutely no time for sports and physical exercise, you should walk several stops before work. Routes can be changed to change the scenery.
Exhaustion of the body is also a signal of a lack of vitamins and other useful substances in the body. Therefore, it is necessary to draw up a diet and calculate how much and in what amount you need to eat. The diet should include fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, dairy products and fish. Cooking should be done using steam. This way, more nutrients will be preserved.
Under no circumstances should overwork be allowed. To combat apathy, you should set aside some time for relaxation and massage, and do breathing exercises. If possible, you need to take a vacation or time off and change your environment.
An active lifestyle will help you cope with apathy. You cannot refuse to meet with friends and participate in any events due to the appearance of apathy.
You should also make sure that your sleep is healthy. A person should definitely get enough sleep, especially in winter - the body needs more time to sleep than in summer. To effectively combat apathy, the room should be ventilated before going to bed. It is very beneficial for a person to sleep in a room with an open window. During the cold season, if heating is available, it is worth placing a vase of water in the room to humidify the air.
Apathy can lead to a nervous breakdown or depression, so it is important to know how to deal with it and overcome it.
Initially, the meaning of the word “apathy” implied an extremely useful and positive state of the individual. A term borrowed from the ancient Greeks - followers of Stoicism ( apatheia – dispassionateness), was used to denote the ability of wise persons to lead a life in which there are no anti-moral passions and negative affects. This is a state of a stoic way of thinking and acting, when a person does not experience joy and suffering from phenomena that cause such feelings in an ordinary mortal.
Today, the term “apathy” is synonymous with athymia and anormia, denoting the presence of dominant properties: emotional passivity, deep detachment from what is happening, a hopeless lack of liveliness. Apathy is a human condition that can be described with the words: “ I don’t want anything, not because I’m lazy, but because my whole life is uninteresting, unexciting, insipid, boring».
At the same time, the reluctance to do anything and act somehow is not at all the momentary whims of an eccentric and spoiled personality. Constant apathy is a specific status of a person’s inner world, a special structure of the psyche. Lethargy of thinking, coldness of feelings, detachment of experiences can arise gradually or abruptly. The person does not understand the nature of such sensations and is not able to control them, that is, she cannot change her perception of the world through conscious efforts.
What is apathy? Description
In fact, the resulting apathy towards life is a kind of lever of the nervous system, used to protect and save the psyche from accumulated stress, warning of the depletion of the body’s resources. A state of indifference and indifference occurs during a period when the reserves of mental energy have been exhausted due to the influence of psychotraumatic factors. Detachment from the events of reality is a consequence of prolonged excitation of the central nervous system: to stabilize the functioning of the body, the brain initiates processes of inhibition of functions. This natural mechanism is designed to prevent irreversible depletion of mental resources. This is a specific reliable “fuse” for the body against excess nervous tension.
However, for many people, apathy is not an isolated and short-term phenomenon, but takes possession of a person for a long time, makes changes in character, becoming a unique personal property. Social apathy in the form of passivity and lack of initiative can be a character trait of individuals at certain stages of development, manifesting itself in low professional activity and social inertia.
As such, there is no diagnosis of “apathy” in psychiatry. In the understanding of clinicians, this is a symptom of the existence of a certain problem in the human psyche, which can be described as “total indifference.” It is this sign that most accurately reflects a person’s position at the moment. It is worth noting that indifference does not extend to any specific area of life: a person is indifferent to all manifestations of life.
Apathy is well conveyed by the speech construction “ I do not care" That is, it is the same for a person: the sun is shining or it is raining, he received a bonus or lost his wallet, he will go to a friendly party or stay at home alone, he will eat a delicious steak or get soy sausages for dinner. For a person with apathy, there is no fundamental difference between joyful and sad events, achievements and failures, gains and losses. Any phenomenon, regardless of its sign: “plus” or “minus” will not cause an emotional reaction.
However, it is worth distinguishing apathy from a related anomaly - abulia, which often go hand in hand. Apathy is insensibility, and abulia is inactivity. If with apathy a person continues to exist as if by inertia, without feeling any emotions, then with abulia his urge to do anything simply disappears.
The state of contemplative inactivity is a sign. Indifference to the surrounding world is a negative manifestation of various somatic, neurological, and mental pathologies, such as: dementia due to Pick's disease, senile dementia of the Alzheimer's type, tick-borne borreliosis, HIV infection. Apathy can develop when taking certain pharmacological agents, for example: antipsychotics.
Apathy can be a specific clinical symptom within depressive disorders. Apathy and depression are kindred spirits. But if with “pure” depression a person is exhausted by negative feelings, then with apathy contrasting concepts disappear. A person does not feel the difference between “sad - happy”, “sad - happy”. In a word, everything is “nothing” for him.
However, the absence of external manifestations of feelings in a subject with apathy does not always mean that the person has completely lost the ability to feel something. It’s just that true sensations are often hidden in the deep parts of the subconscious and are not demonstrated at the conscious level. In addition, apathy deprives the richness and brightness of experiences, so it seems that a person has no emotions at all.
Symptoms of apathy
A person in a state of apathy can be easily distinguished from others, since the symptoms of this anomaly are clearly visible externally. The main essence of apathy is complete indifference to what is happening, which manifests itself in a noticeable decrease in vital activity. A person loses interest in hobbies, does not perform previously favorite activities, and reduces the number of contacts with friends. A person loses interest not only in joyful events, but he does not show any reactions to phenomena that normally cause hostility, disgust, and anger.
When surrounded by people, he is distinguished by his absolutely dispassionate speech and indifferent behavior. The complete alienation of the individual from society is established. He tends to ignore questions addressed to him or answers them in monosyllables. A noticeable sign of apathy: lack of sympathy for the problems of loved ones, disappearance of empathy for the difficulties of relatives, inability to rejoice for their successes. It is often his fault that family relationships become hostile. Moreover, the more attention a relative pays to him, the further the person with apathy tends to move away from him.
The person prefers to be inactive, to spend time aimlessly. A person continues to go to work or attend classes, but he does this out of inertia. He does not show any initiative and performs his duties, not trying to get some worthy result, but performing them, just to somehow get the job done.
The posture of a person with apathy is static, as if lifeless, the head is lowered, the gaze is dull. Visual symptoms of apathy are the complete disappearance of facial reactions to some phenomena. A person’s face does not reflect either sympathy or antipathy, neither sadness nor joy. The subject's speech is devoid of any emotional modulation. The narrative reveals indifferent notes in relation to all objects of reality.
A sign of apathy, noticeable to the naked eye, is the disappearance of any vegetative reactions to an event, that is, a person’s face neither turns red nor turns pale if the individual witnesses an objectively alarming situation. There is also a significant paucity of gestures, a complete absence of any spontaneous movements.
There may be signs of sloppiness and uncleanliness, even complete disregard for personal hygiene measures. Many people with apathy experience senseless obsessive actions, for example: tapping their fingers on the table, rhythmically swinging their legs, rubbing their hands, and staring at their hands for a long time.
Causes of apathy
Apathy– a symptom that may indicate diseases of a somatic, neurological, mental level. Before starting treatment for an abnormal condition, the following causes should be excluded:
- schizophrenia;
- depressive disorders;
- diseases of the central nervous system of organic etiology;
- dementia of various origins;
- AIDS;
- oncological lesions of the brain;
- alcoholism and drug addiction;
- endocrine dysfunction.
Quite often, the causes of apathy are the use of certain medications, including: benzodiazepine tranquilizers, sleeping pills, tricyclic antidepressants, antibiotics, oral contraceptives. Therefore, if you experience fatigue, drowsiness, weakness and indifference while taking any medications, you should consult a doctor to change medications.
Among the psychological causes of apathy, the palm is held by the psychoanalytic concept, according to which apathy is a protective mechanism of the psyche, designed to neutralize intense personal experiences. According to adherents of this teaching, apathy helps to temporarily reduce the importance of the desires and needs of the individual, which allows you to change your worldview, thereby eliminating internal conflict.
Another group of psychologists believes that the cause of apathy is a consequence of excessive personal experiences, and its task is to reduce the intensity of manifestations of the emotional sphere. Since the process of experiencing emotions is associated with a significant expenditure of mental energy, there comes a moment for any person when the body’s resources are simply not enough for emotional reactions. Apathy is a kind of “switch” of the sphere of feelings to work in energy-saving mode.
Another opinion is that apathy is a way to prevent a nervous breakdown, restraining responsible and purposeful people from excessive labor feats. Often, sudden insensitivity occurs in initiative and enterprising subjects who dare in the professional field 24 hours a day. Due to the development of indifference to what is happening, the workaholic’s body receives the necessary rest.
In some cases, it is quite difficult to establish the causes of apathy, since the culprits of a person’s vital lethargy are hidden in the deep parts of the psyche - in the subconscious. By immersing the person in a hypnotic trance, it is possible to establish that the reasons for the current cooling to life are mental traumas of the past. That is, in the personal history there was some kind of psychotraumatic situation that caused the individual severe suffering. By creating apathy, the subconscious tries to protect the individual from new mental anguish.
Psychological stress
The Roman philosopher Seneca argued that it is possible to cultivate a feeling of hatred for life only with the help of two things: laziness and apathy. There is no person who does not experience fatigue, a painful feeling of inner emptiness, detachment and reluctance to take any action. These are symptoms of apathy, a severe mental state that for some time “knocks you out” of the usual schedule of life, makes you feel lost, lonely, causes not only physical passivity, but also indifference to any aspects of daily life, to other people.
It is important not to confuse the state of apathy with a depressive state, because depression is a complex mental disorder, during which apathy can be only one of the symptoms. In most cases, apathy is an excellent indicator of intrapersonal problems and conflicts. If you do not want to one day be overtaken by constant complete apathy towards life, then the time has come for you to get to know the reasons for its occurrence, learn its symptoms, and also arm yourself with knowledge on how to overcome this negative condition.
The term “apathy” was first used in ancient times, but with a completely different meaning. Apathy was considered the highest human virtue and was a sign of a certain detachment and asceticism characteristic of a true sage.
In our time, apathy in different directions of psychology means a negative state that brings psychological discomfort to a person’s life. Apathy towards life appears suddenly, and often a person does not understand its causes and does not know what to do.
Apathy has various causes; knowledge of them provides the basis for searching for tools to get rid of this dangerous condition. Analyze the main causes of apathy to know what to do next:
Normally, a state of apathy is a warning signal of deeper problems. She talks about the need to stop and think about qualitative changes in your lifestyle and emotional state.
How to determine that this is apathy?
Observe yourself, if you find some of the indicated symptoms in your behavior and feelings, then you may have apathy.
- Closedness. You do not want to communicate or even see other people; any forced contacts cause a range of negative emotions, a desire to run away and hide from the whole world.
- Passivity. You are plagued by constant fatigue and reluctance to do anything. Habitual professional and activities and household chores fade into the background, you don’t want to do anything. The daily routine changes, constant insomnia torments, which is replaced by daytime sleepiness.
- You not only do not want to do anything, but you feel physical weakness, which causes drowsiness and does not allow you to lead your usual lifestyle. It is difficult for you to even speak expressively.
- Emotional coldness. Manifestations of emotions and feelings become monotonous and inexpressive. The general emotional background is negative, the facial expression is gloomy, the look is sad and downcast. There is a weak reaction to the emotions of other people, they simply cease to be of interest. Moreover, you feel that there are no specific reasons for this condition.
- Indifference. An indifferent attitude towards your appearance arises; you can spend the whole day in bed, feeling drowsy, ignoring food and hygiene procedures. There is a passive reaction to any requests and wishes from other people.
Take action
Constant fatigue and drowsiness, which are common causes of apathy, can disappear without a trace on their own, without the use of special methods or seeking help from specialists. Perhaps your body just wanted to rest and apathy expressed its fatigue and oversaturation. But if these symptoms do not disappear for several weeks, and other symptoms are added to them, then you should seek help from a professional psychologist. But first, try to get out of this state yourself using the following actions:
- Find reasons. Think about why you might be feeling apathetic. Since it is the surface of the problem, try to find the root that could lead to this condition. If the reason is hard work, consider changing your field of activity or taking a temporary vacation. If you are surrounded by “difficult” people, try changing your social circle. New decisions will give you inner strength, and you will have more energy for further actions.
- Try to lead a healthy, active lifestyle. Change your diet, take up any sport: fitness, swimming, cycling, running or visiting the gym. Take a course of therapeutic or relaxing massage. Such procedures will fill your body with new energy, balancing the physical and mental stress on the body.
- Plan your day. Make a schedule of your daily activities for a month. If you manage to take a vacation, then fill these days with meetings with pleasant people, new activities and creativity. You can also start unusual repairs.
- Try to compare your life with the lives of other people. Look beyond the boundaries of your own life and notice how many people live in more difficult life circumstances. Find out what kind of help your local orphanage needs and help based on your ability.
- Go on a trip. If you have such an opportunity, then a radical change of circumstances would be an excellent option. Go on a trip abroad or just to your dacha, where you will be surrounded by other people and things. But don’t forget, this is not an escape from problems, but giving new colors to life.
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Who hasn't had a day when you didn't want anything? Neither getting up for work in the morning, nor meeting with friends, nor watching your favorite movie, or even your favorite dish evokes emotions... what to do if you feel apathy towards everything? Fight overwhelming laziness before it turns into depression!
Apathy: what to do if you don’t want anything?
Getting out of a situation requires effort, but what comes easy? When it is impossible to force yourself to act, you should listen to your body and really stop. Sometimes taking a break from the frantic pace of life and thinking is also very useful.
Step one
Step two
Determine your life goals. Think about what you really need, and not about what others expect. Are you doing what you love? Do you have an interesting hobby? If not, there is no need to be even more upset. On the contrary, this is a reason to find something you like and realize yourself! It happens that a person gets so used to being what others want to see him that he loses himself. For example, you work as an accountant, while all your life you have dreamed of becoming a dentist. The result will inevitably be a feeling of apathy. The same can be said about your personal life.
Step three
Take action. If you can’t “sort out” your problems on your own, you should seek the help of specialists. A good psychologist will help you find a way out of their current situation. Under no circumstances should you hesitate! After all, a person’s moral state is closely related to his physical state. Therefore, a person who is overcome by apathy and does not know what to do if he doesn’t want to do anything may begin to be bothered by headaches or chronic sores may “climb out.” Do you need it?
Step four
Change of scenery. If there are no global reasons for an apathetic state, but laziness is becoming more and more overwhelming, there is a sure way to combat it. This is a trip. To relatives or friends, to another city or even country. New impressions associated with travel will not leave room for gloomy thoughts. Can't leave for some reason? Change something around you! Move the furniture in your room, hang new curtains in the kitchen, change your hairstyle or update your wardrobe. And the apathy will go away by itself!
Step five
Start a new life. Add something unusual to your routine, something you have never done before. For example, attending yoga classes or driving courses, going for a morning run or doing selfless good deeds. Meet new people, go to an exhibition or a movie.
- Nothing. Allow yourself a day of laziness and relaxation of soul and body - no phones, email, social networks, etc. Only good movies, delicious tea, favorite dishes and a warm blanket. But, only one day of such a relaxing regime. Then - back to business, but without sad thoughts.
- Get a pet. A cat or a hamster, or maybe an exotic chameleon? Small (or not so), but funny pets have an amazing ability to give positivity and get rid of bad thoughts.
- Do something crazy. Have you dreamed of skydiving? Today is the best day to make your wish come true! The adrenaline rush is a reboot for the whole body.
- Relax in nature. Having gathered all your strength, force yourself to go out of town to the forest or just go to the park. It doesn’t matter the time of year - feel the healing beauty of the world around you - flowers, birds, butterflies, trees, snowflakes. It really works!
Be happy!
With the onset of gloomy autumn days, you don’t want to get out of a warm and cozy bed, especially if you have your favorite gadget at hand. It seems that I would have lain there for a week if I didn’t have to slam the doors of the refrigerator and toilet. “Apathy has overcome us,” we timidly justify ourselves, because we are ashamed to admit our usual laziness, first of all, to ourselves. This is how we easily, without thinking, set ourselves a serious diagnosis. So apathy or laziness, or maybe something even more serious? Let's try to figure out what's really happening to us and what to do if we don't want to do anything.
Banal laziness
So let's start with laziness. Let's finally admit that she is the most “dear and green” laziness - a real bad habit. Yes, it is a habit that is not associated with either physical or mental problems. And its basis lies in two reasons: lack of motivation and a weak strong-willed component of character. If a teenager sits on the computer, not caring about an important test, this is laziness. And not throwing away the Christmas tree until March 8th is also lazy.
How to deal with this? In principle, unfortunately, there are only two common options left: carrot or stick. Force or offer incentives in return for work done. Probably, if we are talking about children, this option can still work. But sometimes forcing an adult, or even worse, a loved one, is simply an impossible task.
But it’s not for nothing that we started talking about motivation. If a person who is overcome by laziness is offered not a boring job or a study that is “sitting in the liver,” but a visit or something else very interesting, then you will not even recognize the unfortunate person who was cowering just recently! So the surest way is to select the necessary motivation and work with the education of will. Or maybe it’s really time for you to change your boring and imposed job?
Fatigue should not be written off
There are times when we simply cannot concentrate properly and fall off our feet. There is a lot of work, and we reproach ourselves for being slow and wanting to simply “hibernate.” And sometimes this is what happens: we just turn off the phone, send the children to grandma and are ready to not open our eyes for days on end. Or maybe not even a day. Can we talk about laziness here? No, if this is not common for you at all. And, at the same time, the rest of the time you work “for wear and tear”.
The fact is that the reserves of the human body are not endless and are very individual. When this same organism is depleted, it simply refuses to function normally.
Moreover, we are talking not only about physical overload, which can be understood and tracked. We are talking about nervous or mental (mental) overload. And sometimes also psychological. After all, if we submit this damned report 24 hours a day, which we redo a hundred times in the shortest possible time, while at the same time we are faced with facts of outright envy and sabotage of “good colleagues.” Naturally, after a successful fait accompli, sometimes you just want to get some sleep (getting drunk before that is a topic for a separate discussion).
What to do in this case? Allow yourself to relax, without any remorse. After all, if you don’t do this, the body can rest without your knowledge. Yes, don’t be surprised, he’ll just get sick! After all, if he doesn’t have the strength to work normally, where will he get the strength to resist illness?
Another thing is that “just getting enough sleep” in case of constant mental overstrain is great, but not everything.
It is very important to change the type of activity to establish balance. In short, if you are exhausted at the office, be sure to find some movement! Fitness, yoga, cycling. Just take a walk in the park in the evening.
Such physical activity often restores better than any passive rest. Sometimes I heard reviews from clients who barely trudged to the dance with the thought of “how would I fall and fall asleep.” And they returned charged with energy, as if they had “swallowed a battery.”
What if everything is much more serious?
It’s a completely different matter if the dishes aren’t washed, not because the person is “stuck” on social networks, but because he simply doesn’t have the strength. Moreover, washing itself does not seem like a boring job to him, nor does communicating with virtual friends seem like an interesting pastime. Nothing around him evokes any emotional response at all. Just like the “rest” itself is not enjoyable. That’s when you should think about apathy or even depression.
Characteristic signs of apathy
- You don’t want anything at all, it’s impossible to single out what can give you pleasure at the moment;
- It is impossible to rest and sleep; the condition lasts more than two weeks;
- The manifestation appears suddenly and has never been observed before. In contrast, laziness is a trait that develops gradually.
Reasons for development
- Asthenic apathy develops as a result of a previous illness or surgical intervention, when the body must normalize its functioning. It's just worth experiencing. The recovery process also depends on you. It has been scientifically proven that even a deliberately strained smile, in the end, also lifts your mood. The harder you try to motivate yourself and start doing something, the faster you will return to normal. Although the help of a therapist and psychologist will also not be superfluous.
- Apathy due to lack of nutrients. As a rule, these are vitamins. (For some, such manifestations are observed in February). But symptoms can also occur with anorexia and during improper diets. Apathy or depression can also occur due to a deficiency of certain microelements. But don’t forget that too good is also not good. An excess of forcibly administered vitamins and minerals will not lead to anything good. And the final verdict on what your body is missing should be made by a doctor after preliminary tests.
- Apathy caused by hormonal imbalances. Sometimes drowsiness and complete loss of all desires can be a companion to PMS, menopause or the period preceding it, and can also be observed when the hormone-producing glands malfunction. So be sure to check your hormonal levels and thyroid gland. As for critical and menopausal days, remember that such a course of the described periods is not the norm. Be sure to consult a gynecologist for advice.
- Apathy as a variant of neurasthenia. This is a case when a person experiences severe psychological trauma (death of significant people, sudden and painful breakup, unplanned and shock dismissal). But in this case we should not talk about true apathy. Here there will be no indifference to the surrounding reality. Rather, the picture will consist of very rapid fatigue, depression, tearfulness and irritability, up to emotional explosions. Why then do we consider neurasthenia in the context of apathy? Because, with certain features of the nervous system, a person can simply withdraw completely into himself and sleep for days on end. He will have no appetite and generally no desire to live, which is very similar to the symptoms mentioned. But, at the same time, he will have a clearly defined “black event”, the memory of which will definitely cause a reaction, even a negative one.
- Apathy as a sign of psychiatric illness. This is too broad a topic to cover quickly. But, in any case, this is an option that requires the immediate intervention of a psychiatrist. So, if you know about a person's psychiatric diagnosis and see signs of apathy on their part, act immediately. Because the patient himself is not able, in this state, to soberly assess the situation and help himself.