What is apathy and how to get rid of it: 8 methods of self-help and 5 methods of helping a friend

In the dictionary Dictionary of foreign words

and, pl. no, w.

A state of complete indifference, indifference, indifference. Apathetic - characterized by apathy.||Cf. ABULIA" title='ABULIA, ABULIA this, what is ABULIA, ABULIA interpretation'>ABULIA, DEPRESSION" title='DEPRESSION, DEPRESSION this, what is DEPRESSION, DEPRESSION interpretation'>DEPRESSION I (1), DYSTHYMIA" title='DISTHYMIA , DISTHYMIA is, what is DISTHYMIA, DISTHYMIA interpretation'>DISTHYMIA, PROSTATION" title='PROSTRATION, PROSTATION is, what is PROSTATION, PROSTATION interpretation'>PROSTRATION, SOPOR" title='SOPOR, SOPOR this, what is SOPOR, SOPOR interpretation '>STOPOR, STUPOR" title='STUPOR, STUPOR is what is STUPOR, STUPOR interpretation'>STUPOR.

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Symptoms

The following signs are characteristic of apathy¹:

• Emotional exhaustion. A person does not have the strength to adequately express joy, grief or irritation. He reacts even to events that are significant to himself with excessive restraint, and answers questions in monosyllables, sometimes limiting himself to interjections.
• Anhedonia. With apathy, the ability to receive pleasure, both physical and moral, decreases and sometimes completely disappears. Delicious food, favorite music, sports and sexual relationships no longer evoke positive emotions, and the person himself loses the incentive to achieve them.
• Weakness and fatigue. Even the strongest and most physically developed patients in a state of apathy lose a fair amount of physical strength. Then any activity (for example, a short trip to the store) drains them so much that they spend the rest of the day on the couch.
• Decreased motivation. Everything seems meaningless and useless. As a result, patients lose interest in work, hobbies and staying in good physical shape.
• Hyperesthesia. Due to the increased sensitivity of the skin, even light touches can cause discomfort.
• Limiting social contacts. In a state of apathy, a person seeks to isolate himself from all people, including those closest to him; the very thought of the need for communication is unpleasant to him.
• Drowsiness. What patients in a state of apathy do really well is sleep for a long time. Often sleep is their only tangible need.
• Emotional instability. Sometimes periods of indifference are replaced in patients by bursts of tearfulness and irritability.
• Impaired concentration. It is difficult for a person to concentrate not only on intellectual work, but also on reading fiction or watching a TV show.

Apathetic people are also prone to procrastination—putting off important things until another day. Combined with low performance and a reluctance to communicate with people, this often leads to problems at work, which only aggravate the patient’s condition, thereby forming a vicious circle.

Notes[ | ]

1. G. V. Morozov, V. A. Romasenko.
   Nervous and mental illnesses. - M.: Medicine, 1987. - P. 301.
2. Stoimenova J. A., Stoimenova M. Y., Koeva P. Y. et al.
   Psychiatric encyclopedic dictionary. - K.: "MAUP", 2003. - S. . — 1200 s. — ISBN 966-608-306-X.
3. Andersson S., Krogstad JM, Finset A.
   Apathy and depressed mood in acquired brain damage: relationship to lesion localization and psychophysiological reactivity. (English) // Psychol Med (English) (Russian: journal. - 1999. - Vol. 29, no. 2. - P. 447-56. - PMID 10218936.
4. Zhmurov V. A.
   Apathy // Great Encyclopedia of Psychiatry. — 2nd ed.
5. ↑ 1 2 Avedisova A.S., Gekht A.B., Zakharova K.V.
   and others. Apathy in the structure of mental and neurological disorders of late age // Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry named after S.S. Korsakov. - 2014. - No. 6. - P. 77-85.
6. Zhmurov V. A.
   Apathetic dementia // Great Encyclopedia of Psychiatry. — 2nd ed.
7. Afimia // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907.
8. ↑ 1 2 Chernykh, P. Ya.
   Apathy // Historical and etymological dictionary of the Russian language. - 3rd ed. - M.: “Russian Language”, 1999. - T. I. - P. 47.

Causes of apathy

Apathy can have many reasons - from ordinary fatigue to somatic diseases and side effects of certain pharmacological drugs.

Important!

Regular use of sleeping pills can cause the development of apathy. The action of medications in this group is based on inhibition of the central nervous system. This can have a negative impact on performance and cause feelings of emotional detachment.

Psychological

If we consider the issue broadly, apathy is a reaction to psychological stress. And it, in turn, can arise due to a number of factors.

Unreasonable perfectionism

Often the cause of severe psychological stress is a person’s failure to meet his own high expectations. Based on an idealistic vision of the world, he sets himself goals that are not always feasible. Frustration on the path to achieving them often creates a feeling of hopelessness and futility of any constructive action⁴.

Many people evaluate themselves by looking at the numerous examples of celebrity success. For example, a conservatory student strives to become a second Paganini, trying to achieve an ideal performance of the most complex musical works. At the same time, he does not understand that phenomenal results are achieved not only through perseverance, but also thanks to special genetic inclinations that not every person possesses. Many perfectionists do not accept half measures, so any result that even partially does not meet the inflated standards seems like a failure to them. There are similar examples in sports, business, journalism: having not achieved an ideal result, a person experiences a feeling of catastrophe and all-consuming apathy.

Middle age crisis

The so-called midlife crisis is a kind of motivational dead end. This period of life is characterized by a devaluation of current achievements and an obsession with the futility of the chosen life path. This phenomenon is most common in people between 30 and 50 years of age. Apathy is one of the negative emotional manifestations of a midlife crisis².

Fear of condemnation of one's actions

Psychologists have a concept called learned helplessness. This is the fear of doing something on your own because you expect to be blamed or punished for your actions. As you might guess, such problems arise in childhood under the influence of improper upbringing by oppressive parents or overly demanding teachers.

Constant reproaches towards children can cause problems with motivation in the future. Photo: evgenyataman/Depositphotos

Lack of purpose

Oddly enough, even success in business can become a psychological trap. Often people who have achieved a long-planned goal experience emotional emptiness and apathy for the reason that they have not yet formed new ambitious goals. The very process of achieving a goal gives a person a feeling of euphoria. And when such a goal has already been achieved, the feeling of joy is replaced by apathy. Similar cases are often observed among show business stars or successful entrepreneurs: they do not know what they want next, so they often fill the emotional vacuum with alcohol and other psychoactive substances.

Frustration

Frustration is understood as a stressful state caused by the inability to realize one’s own desires and needs. In addition to apathy, frustration is manifested by irritability, anxiety, and a tendency to self-torture (both psychological and physical). American psychologist S. Rosenzweig, who devoted a fairly large part of his career to the study of this phenomenon, defines frustration as “a situation when the body encounters insurmountable obstacles on the way to satisfying an urgent life need”³.

Soviet psychologist N.D. Levitov considered the problem more broadly, paying attention not only to the physiological, but also to the moral and aesthetic needs of man. Examples of frustration include an employee's unsuccessful desire to get a promotion or unsuccessful attempts to get women pregnant.

Overwork

Nowadays it is fashionable to call this condition “burnout.” A person who devotes all his internal resources to work or study sooner or later faces emotional and physical fatigue. This happens both to people who are forced to overwork due to a combination of circumstances (lack of money, pressure from other family members), and to those who simply deny the natural need for proper rest. When overworked, apathy is combined with nervousness, irritability, and sometimes even real depression.

Apathy and depression are different conditions, although sometimes apathy can be part of a depressive disorder. At the same time, they affect people’s mood in different ways. A person prone to apathy does not want to do anything, and depression is accompanied by a feeling of depression and decreased self-esteem.

Emotional shock

Too much psychological stress can lead almost any healthy person to apathy. For example, for a woman, childbirth is a serious test, and for a man, it is a feeling of defeat (in a fight, career, emotional confrontation). In such cases, apathy occurs as a protective reaction of the body. There are also positive emotional shocks (for example, winning a large sum in the lottery) that can cause a feeling of apathy.

Playing games with friends can help you take your mind off things and lift your spirits. Photo: antiksu/Depositphotos

Mental illness and trauma

Apathy can also be a symptom of quite serious neurological disorders and complications, which include:

• Alzheimer's disease;
• bruises and concussions;
• schizophrenia;
• affective insanity;
• stroke;
• tumors of the frontal part of the brain;
• meningitis.

Regular use of alcohol and drugs

People who abuse alcohol develop a painful attachment to it over time. In this respect, alcohol is not much different from any drug known to us, except that addiction occurs more slowly. When giving up alcohol, an alcoholic experiences withdrawal symptoms. Many people confuse this condition with a hangover, but these are fundamentally different things. During a hangover, the painful condition is caused by the consequences of poisoning the body with ethyl alcohol and its partial breakdown product - acetaldehyde.

But withdrawal syndrome is a real withdrawal syndrome that develops when trying to give up a psychoactive substance (in this case, alcohol). Therefore, apathy when trying to “quit” alcohol is a completely natural part of abstinence. In addition to apathy, an alcoholic experiences unpleasant aches throughout the body, rapid heartbeat and headaches.

Similar symptoms are also typical for people who have used psychostimulants, opioids and hallucinogens for a long time. Even a single dose of amphetamine-type psychostimulants can cause a strong feeling of depression and apathy immediately after their effect ends. It is for this reason that the suicide rate among people on psychostimulants is very high.

Important!

People who regularly take antidepressants should also be prepared for side effects in the form of apathy and a strong decrease in the severity of emotions. This phenomenon is called SSRI-induced apathy syndrome.

Treatment of apathy

Regular exercise helps you get rid of apathy and stay involved in daily activities.
Photo: zinkevych / freepik.com If apathy is caused by ordinary overwork or short-term stress, it is usually enough to ensure normal rest, sleep and a balanced diet. In the absence of contraindications, physical exercise and walks in the fresh air are very effective. In this case, the intensity should be moderate: on the one hand, physical activity should not cause overwork, on the other, it should be noticeable. The load can be increased gradually: at first, even a 10-minute walk will be a great achievement for some people. Then the time and intensity should be gradually increased. If apathy is not caused by extremely severe stress or somatic (body-related) diseases, then regular half-hour workouts to your favorite music can give an effect even stronger than a course of antidepressants.

Why does playing sports improve your mood?

Exercising, be it strength exercises or cardio training, promotes the synthesis of a specific protein BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), which belongs to neutrotrophins - substances responsible for the formation of new neural connections.
BDNF normalizes the processes of inhibition and excitation of the central nervous system. Regular production of this neurotrophin helps to increase the volume of gray matter in the prefrontal zone of the brain. In addition, physical exercise increases the synthesis of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps us experience euphoria and pleasure. Thus, physical activity provides an effect much like that of antidepressants, without causing unpleasant side effects. Of course, it is difficult for a person who can hardly find the strength to get up from the couch and walk to the kitchen or toilet to understand the full depth of the concept of physical activity as a method of treating apathy. Therefore, you should not immediately set yourself overwhelming goals. You need to start with the main thing - eliminating the provoking factor (be it lack of sleep or excessive nervous tension). Only after this should you begin physical activity, and it is better to increase its intensity gradually and remember that appetite comes with eating.

If all these measures do not give the expected result, you can take a course with a psychotherapist.

Psychotherapy is one way to overcome apathy. Photo: diana-eller / freepik.com

A good specialist knows how to not only listen to his patient. Many people mistakenly believe that the entire effect of psychotherapy is based only on the opportunity to cry into someone’s vest. In fact, the work of a psychotherapist requires the ability to quickly determine the patient’s psychotype, understand the roots of his psychological problems and find leverage on his subconscious.

It is possible that the doctor will prescribe anti-anxiety medications (anxiolytics) or antidepressants. You should not select such medications on your own - even if you manage to purchase them without a prescription, if used incorrectly they will do more harm than good.

If apathy is caused not so much by psychological as by somatic factors, then it is impossible to do without eliminating the underlying cause: hormonal therapy may be required, and sometimes surgical intervention. It all depends on the main provoking factor.

How to live with apathy

To date, there are no proven treatments for apathy that work equally well for everyone. Therefore, sometimes patients suffering from this disorder have to live with it for more than one month. Here are some tips to help manage your symptoms easier:

• Tell about your problem to a person you trust.
• Don't avoid social contacts, even if you have no desire to communicate. Spending time with family members or friends has a beneficial effect on your psycho-emotional state.
• Dedicate time to pleasant leisure at least once a week.
• Create a daily routine and try to stick to it. Then performing daily duties will become easier.
• Set yourself achievable tasks and reward yourself for completing them.
• When doing something, divide it into parts and focus on completing them gradually. For example, if you need to clean your apartment, clean the bathroom and then the kitchen the next day.
• Do not skip taking medications recommended by your doctor. Get a pill box and set an alarm if you have trouble remembering which pills to take and when.
• Take a break from social networks and media. Alarming news and endless online debates often take away a lot of energy, leaving no energy for more enjoyable activities.

Diagnosis for apathy

First, you need to contact a specialized specialist - a psychiatrist or neurologist. Often, patients with severe apathy are so indifferent that communication with the doctor takes place in the presence of their relatives, who answer questions and tell details of the medical history.

If the patient can communicate independently, the specialist asks him to undergo several psychodiagnostic tests to determine a possible connection with various mental disorders and diseases. Such psychodiagnostic techniques include the Eysenck and Cattell tests. If dementia or schizophrenia is suspected, a pathopsychological study is performed to determine the functions of memory and logical thinking.

Apathy often occurs when the pituitary gland and prefrontal areas of the brain are damaged, so doctors often prescribe hardware examination methods:

• MRI (magnetic resonance imaging);
• CT (computed tomography);
• Ultrasound (ultrasound examination of cerebral vessels).

If infectious diseases or endocrine disorders are suspected, general and biochemical blood tests are prescribed. If the clinical picture suggests the development of tumor processes, the patient is prescribed a blood test for tumor markers.

History of the term[ | ]

In ancient Greek, the term ἀπάθεια was used to mean “absence of suffering,” “insensitivity,” “impassion”[8]. Apathy in philosophy meant the highest virtue - a detached philosophical worldview, which only sages who have curbed their egoistic passions are capable of. In Stoic philosophy, one of the basic concepts of ethics, which presupposes the complete liberation of the soul from all passions.

In Russian, the term has been used since the beginning of the 19th century, initially in the form “apatiya”, borrowed from the French language[8].

Types of apathy

Experts distinguish three types of apathy:

1. Passive. Occurs against the background of stress factors. Lethargy and detachment are clearly visible to others. Patients with this type of apathy attract attention with slowness, inexpressiveness of speech and poor facial expressions.
2. Active. It also arises due to purely psychological factors, but at the same time, patients successfully hide from their environment the growing emotional vacuum within themselves. This prolonged restraint has a detrimental effect on the psyche of such people: as a result, they attempt suicide or develop more serious mental disorders.
3. Traumatic. It occurs as a result of degenerative, dystrophic and atrophic changes affecting the brain. Similar changes occur against the background of traumatic brain injury. Patients experience a decrease in both intellectual and physical activity.