Most of us have been unmotivated at some point. without wanting to do anything despite having to do it. Although we do act and carry out what we have to do, we do it with a very low level of motivation, without enthusiasm or interest, almost as if we were robots.
These kinds of everyday experiences are examples of one of the most unpleasant feelings: apathy. In this article we will see what exactly its psychological bases are and the causes why it can arise.
Apathy is a condition or state of lack of motivation or interest by different aspects of life, generally associated with a state of discomfort or hopelessness. There is an indifference at both a cognitive and affective level to most stimuli, and the desire to act is conspicuous by its absence.
On the other hand, the main characteristics of this symptom are emotional flattening or dullness, lack of perseverance and the reduction of self-generated thoughts and behaviors.
Thus, not only is initiative lost to a greater or lesser degree, but the linking of events with emotions occurs at a much lower level. This can cause that the person decreases their performance and effort level in order to carry out different types of behavior, which in turn feeds back into the subject’s demotivation. When apathy occurs to a maximum degree in which it does not allow us to act normally, making it difficult to make decisions or making it impossible to start or continue carrying out tasks, it can be called avolition.
Apathy can be found primarily as a syndrome without necessarily having an associated disorder. However, as a general rule it is considered a symptom indicative of other mental and physical disorders.
Apathy can have a lot of different causes, both biological and environmental.
biological causes
At the brain level, the existence of a correlation between the presence of apathy and alterations in the connection between the frontal lobe and basal ganglia has been revealed, which explains the difficulty in connecting emotion and thought, as well as the reduction in behavioral initiative. . Another notable association with apathy occurs in the presence of lesions in the dorsolateral prefrontal and associative areas. These lesions can explain the appearance of apathy in various physical and psychological disorders, such as dementia.
Another possible cause can be found in the consumption of substances with psychoactive effects, which by modifying the transmission of neurotransmitters can alter the normal functioning of the brain. For example, excessive cannabis consumption can cause what is known as amotivational syndromecharacterized by the presence of apathy, decreased memory, and reduced drive and self-directed activity. Something similar occurs with typical antipsychotics, which by reducing the dopaminergic activity of the entire brain cause not enough dopamine to circulate through the mesocortical route, which can cause the increase or generation of negative symptoms such as alogia and apathy.
Environmental causes
At an environmental level, apathy has been found in people subjected to constant stress or exposure to aversive stimulation. The absence of sufficient positive reinforcement can also end up generating a deterioration in the ability to be interested in the environment. The existence of helpless attitudes and depressive thinking patterns, with a negative view of oneself, the world and the future, also contributes to wearing down the person’s mood and motivation, causing apathy and even apathy.
Another element linked to apathy is the tendency to create goals that are difficult to achieve, that exceed one’s own capacity to carry them out and that They usually lead to frustration.
As we have seen, apathy It is a common symptom of different disorders both organic and psychological. Below we will see some.
1. Depression
One of the disorders in which avolition can be seen most frequently is depression, in which different cognitive biases are presented that make the subject see the world, their own future and themselves in a hostile and negative way. The despair and discomfort generated can lead to feelings of apathy, being in fact one of the common symptoms that can help make the diagnosis.
2. Dementia
In this type of disorders, apathy has a clearly organic etiology, being generated due to the degeneration of brain structures or routes mentioned above.
3. Anxiety, stress and negative or traumatic experiences
The wear and tear caused by the continued experience of a state of tension can generate the presence of apathy, whether it is linked to a specific aspect of reality or at a general level. Situations from which we cannot escape and that generate hopelessness and feeling of lack of control They usually generate a certain apathetic state if they are maintained over time.
4. Anemias
The absence in the body of different nutrients such as vitamins or glucose can generate cognitive and behavioral alterationsincluding apathy. This anemia can come from a poor diet or metabolic alterations.
5. Infections and serious illnesses
Different infections and diseases can generate states of apathy in the subjects who suffer from them, both due to organic causes such as the degeneration of brain structures and due to the fact that suffering from them can be a hard blow on a psychological level that ends up generating apathy. Examples of this are cancer or HIV infection.
Treatment
Apathy is a symptom whose treatment will depend largely on the aspects or disorders that cause it. However, at a general level different strategies can be established.
In psychological therapy
In therapy, the apathetic subject will generally benefit from those strategies that help him generate plausible and achievable goals, at first with some ease and over time progressively requiring more effort. Cognitive restructuring It can also be effective in modifying possible dysfunctional beliefs that may be affecting the subject’s vision of the world and of themselves, as well as therapies such as Rehm’s self-control, so that realistic and achievable goals can be set. . In general, increasing self-esteem and performing pleasant tasks is also very useful.
Since stress and negative experiences can be other causes of apathy, time management is also essential. For this reason, it is necessary to help create specific schedules that leave room for relaxation spaces, as well as the performance of different exercises and techniques that facilitate it.
A healthy lifestyle It is of great help when it comes to improving symptoms. Controlling nutrition can make it possible to compensate for different deficits that can help generate apathy. Likewise, physical exercise is known to help generate endorphins, so its performance can be useful both in this regard and in reducing the level of anxiety and frustration that may be behind some cases.
Social support and reinforcement of initiative by others is also a great help in overcoming states of apathy, especially in the face of disorders such as depression. The use of psychoactive substances, especially depressant types, can have harmful effects and help maintain and even generate apathy. Thus The consumption of this type of substance must be reduced and controlled..
Intervention with psychotropic drugs
At a pharmacological level, the use of different anxiolytic or antidepressant drugslike SSRIs. Other drugs that help improve the circulation of neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine are also effective. All this as long as it is prescribed by a specialist.
