FabSwingers.com > Forums > The Lounge > Apathy
Apathy
Jump to: Newest in thread
| |||
| |||
| |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use" Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!  | |||
| |||
 | |||
I'll form an actual response soon. | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!! "It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ... | |||
| |||
"Oh Estella and Psychology Today!
I'll form an actual response soon."You replied much better than I did | |||
| |||
| |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ..."I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have. | |||
Apathy or ennui, it's a downward spiral. There is almost always something interesting and different everyday and so many things to see and do. | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have."psychology today | |||
| |||
 | |||
| |||
"Isn't apathy a sort of depression ? " Certainly there are commonalities but most literature defines the difference thus: Depression is a psychological condition where the individual lacks interest and feels powerless. Apathy can be defined as the lack of interest or enthusiasm. (Very similar, yes!) Depression is different from apathy, even though, a depressed person may also share certain symptoms that can be viewed in an apathetic person. For instance, lack of interest in daily activities can be viewed in both apathetic and depressed people. However, the tendency to commit suicide, feelings of guilt cannot be seen in an apathetic person, even though, this can be seen in a depressed person. | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? " i posted a thread about my apathy towards fucking anyone new earlier today the problem is that same apathy is now beginning to seep into my regular play sessions with my fwbs . in my case I think its because I'm always restrained in all my acts sexual or otherwise to protect others from my own desire which can be destructive and bad for those I interact with . in my case I feel I need to lose control so I'm contemplating getting pissed something I've not done in over 15 years. | |||
"So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? " Focus on the stuff that interests you more than the stuff that doesn't. I think having a purpose is the single most important driver for life. | |||
| |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have.
psychology today"Apologies I'm not meeting your forum post standard for interesting. Thanks for sharing your opinion. I'm feeling a little stuck today, hence absent from forum posting for a while, apologies that trying to warm up again was below par. Perhaps I've put the pathetic in apathetic. Welcome to stay and discuss or not.... | |||
| |||
"Can't be bothered to read it " | |||
| |||
"I am apathetic about some things and can't muster the will to do anything about it. I will consider whether my fat is about apathy or something else... " I have major fatapathy. | |||
| |||
"I prefer the term 'ennui'
Apathy or ennui, it's a downward spiral. There is almost always something interesting and different everyday and so many things to see and do. " you're giving me the ability to romanticise it with ennui! It is a downward spiral, and requires a major shake up to reset momentum. Agreed. | |||
"Procrastination is my default setting but since I don't like apathy I fight it. I set myself a little task or thing to do to ease myself in gently and that breaks the procrastination cycle. Often the task is something that's not onerous or essential but starting it is the key." I find one positive about procrastinating about the big stuff means you get on with the small procrastinating things on the list as a distraction and hence actually achieve something (albeit still avoiding the big dark cloud item!!) | |||
| |||
"Can apathy be measured? I wonder if anyone's bothered to try?" There is an apathy evaluation scale for brain injury that I've seen used in one of my work lives. | |||
| |||
"I've never experienced a full on, all consuming, apathy but I went through around a month last year where I just couldn't get out to run. I love my running. Always pack my stuff when going away somewhere. Took my kit away with me and never used it. Eventually forced myself on to a treadmill to make my legs remember what it was like and then forced myself out of the door one afternoon and it all clicked again. Lovely to see you back and thought provoking again "Thank you. I've been sweating the getting back into posting as suffering my own form of apathy. Hence reading the article today made me think post re this and confront your block. It's hard to find your own opinion when you're struggling a wee bit though. But yeah, hi! Glad the running is back. Did you work out if there was a trigger or reason for losing interest for a while? | |||
" Im often distra" Hehehe | |||
"Oh Estella and Psychology Today!
I'll form an actual response soon."I'm a bit predictable and boring! | |||
"Oh Estella and Psychology Today!
I'll form an actual response soon.
You replied much better than I did " hello | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? " *shrugs* Meh | |||
"I've never experienced a full on, all consuming, apathy but I went through around a month last year where I just couldn't get out to run. I love my running. Always pack my stuff when going away somewhere. Took my kit away with me and never used it. Eventually forced myself on to a treadmill to make my legs remember what it was like and then forced myself out of the door one afternoon and it all clicked again. Lovely to see you back and thought provoking again
Thank you. I've been sweating the getting back into posting as suffering my own form of apathy. Hence reading the article today made me think post re this and confront your block. It's hard to find your own opinion when you're struggling a wee bit though. But yeah, hi!
Glad the running is back. Did you work out if there was a trigger or reason for losing interest for a while?"I've heard a few people recently say that after a break they didn't feel the need to be here so much. You aren't alone in that. I'd achieved a goal and didn't have another one to aim for. So in my head I though 'well what's the point?' I've figured I need a race booked because then I have no choice. Train or fail. It helps me get out there and once I'm out there all is well with the world | |||
| |||
| |||
" i posted a thread about my apathy towards fucking anyone new earlier today the problem is that same apathy is now beginning to seep into my regular play sessions with my fwbs . in my case I think its because I'm always restrained in all my acts sexual or otherwise to protect others from my own desire which can be destructive and bad for those I interact with . in my case I feel I need to lose control so I'm contemplating getting pissed something I've not done in over 15 years. " A blow out can be fun. But if you've not done so for fifteen years would it be the useful thing to do? (Without knowing your reasons for not drinking, I'm being a little cautious with my reply!) I hope something useful, healthy and productive helps break the funk for you. (I deleted the full quote/reply for space) | |||
"So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Focus on the stuff that interests you more than the stuff that doesn't. I think having a purpose is the single most important driver for life." I think that is very true. How do you settle on what your purpose is? | |||
"I was going to do nothing today but I gelt to apathetic about it." | |||
"In answer to your question cultivating 'will' has been my antidote to apathy. I have always been fairly self directed and motivated, however three setbacks caused me to become more apathetic at times than I was happy with. Dealing with the underlying emotion and changing my situation at each of those times was key to overcoming. Dealing with the transition properly mourning the ending and freeing up the energy to envision each new beginning. It meant conceiving a new vision, creating new relationships I could invest myself in with people who were willing to reciprocate, establishing new things we could do together, then putting plans in place to do them etc etc..... The will was, I think, cultivated by releasing the energy restrained by the unfinished business of not dealing with the negative emotions held from the setbacks."
Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this. | |||
" i posted a thread about my apathy towards fucking anyone new earlier today the problem is that same apathy is now beginning to seep into my regular play sessions with my fwbs . in my case I think its because I'm always restrained in all my acts sexual or otherwise to protect others from my own desire which can be destructive and bad for those I interact with . in my case I feel I need to lose control so I'm contemplating getting pissed something I've not done in over 15 years. A blow out can be fun. But if you've not done so for fifteen years would it be the useful thing to do? (Without knowing your reasons for not drinking, I'm being a little cautious with my reply!) I hope something useful, healthy and productive helps break the funk for you. (I deleted the full quote/reply for space)" I haven't been d*unk for that length of time because I like to have control being d*unk is being out of control . the truth is I've only ever been d*unk 3 times in my life due to my need to have control . I feel being out of control for a short time maybe what I need to release and reset if that makes any sense , ps I'm a harmless soppy d*unk  | |||
"I'm going to make a cup of tea and then come back to read it. Good to see you back "Gives you a gentle squeeze hug | |||
"Can apathy be measured? I wonder if anyone's bothered to try?" Bwahahaha | |||
"I thaw apathy the other day it was pithing on my garden. Thucking caths "  | |||
"(apologies if that's been done lots of times already)" Not quite as succinctly. Cheers DJ. | |||
| |||
" Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this. " I regularly plan endings but there is often a residue of something left unfinished in some way. | |||
"I've never experienced a full on, all consuming, apathy but I went through around a month last year where I just couldn't get out to run. I love my running. Always pack my stuff when going away somewhere. Took my kit away with me and never used it. Eventually forced myself on to a treadmill to make my legs remember what it was like and then forced myself out of the door one afternoon and it all clicked again. Lovely to see you back and thought provoking again
Thank you. I've been sweating the getting back into posting as suffering my own form of apathy. Hence reading the article today made me think post re this and confront your block. It's hard to find your own opinion when you're struggling a wee bit though. But yeah, hi!
Glad the running is back. Did you work out if there was a trigger or reason for losing interest for a while?
I've heard a few people recently say that after a break they didn't feel the need to be here so much. You aren't alone in that.
I'd achieved a goal and didn't have another one to aim for. So in my head I though 'well what's the point?'
I've figured I need a race booked because then I have no choice. Train or fail. It helps me get out there and once I'm out there all is well with the world"Ah now that's interesting -- endings of things and thus ending of a goal, lack of stretch mentally... No, I was feeling anxious actually about posting oddly. But I've put on the metaphorical trainers and gone out the door and am jogging...  | |||
" i posted a thread about my apathy towards fucking anyone new earlier today the problem is that same apathy is now beginning to seep into my regular play sessions with my fwbs . in my case I think its because I'm always restrained in all my acts sexual or otherwise to protect others from my own desire which can be destructive and bad for those I interact with . in my case I feel I need to lose control so I'm contemplating getting pissed something I've not done in over 15 years. A blow out can be fun. But if you've not done so for fifteen years would it be the useful thing to do? (Without knowing your reasons for not drinking, I'm being a little cautious with my reply!) I hope something useful, healthy and productive helps break the funk for you. (I deleted the full quote/reply for space) I haven't been d*unk for that length of time because I like to have control being d*unk is being out of control . the truth is I've only ever been d*unk 3 times in my life due to my need to have control . I feel being out of control for a short time maybe what I need to release and reset if that makes any sense , ps I'm a harmless soppy d*unk "Raises glass to you then! Go on have an evening off being in control. | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have.
psychology today" | |||
"So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Focus on the stuff that interests you more than the stuff that doesn't. I think having a purpose is the single most important driver for life. I think that is very true. How do you settle on what your purpose is? "By being apathetic to the stuff that doesn't interest you
I think we start out with life as our purpose. This continues with parenthood.
But as we grow older we need more too and that's why some turn to faith, others collect stuff and some invent things.
Others don't. They're the ones who struggle, or die. | |||
"I've had a think about it and I don't think I've ever felt it (well, experienced it luckily) so my contribution will be little sadly. I've always pushed myself a bit too hard and one day I might break but until then? Meh. I think purpose helps fend off apathy." It's a fascinating headspace yet not. Purpose. Yes, I can relate to the importance of having purpose. | |||
"So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Focus on the stuff that interests you more than the stuff that doesn't. I think having a purpose is the single most important driver for life. I think that is very true. How do you settle on what your purpose is?
By being apathetic to the stuff that doesn't interest you
I think we start out with life as our purpose. This continues with parenthood.
But as we grow older we need more too and that's why some turn to faith, others collect stuff and some invent things.
Others don't. They're the ones who struggle, or die."100% true fact - we all die. | |||
"So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Focus on the stuff that interests you more than the stuff that doesn't. I think having a purpose is the single most important driver for life. I think that is very true. How do you settle on what your purpose is?
By being apathetic to the stuff that doesn't interest you
I think we start out with life as our purpose. This continues with parenthood.
But as we grow older we need more too and that's why some turn to faith, others collect stuff and some invent things.
Others don't. They're the ones who struggle, or die.
100% true fact - we all die.
"My point was when. And how. | |||
" Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this. I regularly plan endings but there is often a residue of something left unfinished in some way. " It feels a little non-committal to go into some things whilst planning an ending, but yes even when there's legitimate need to prepare for an ending it's never clean and tidy is it...? | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have.
psychology today
"My source was in the second comment. The questions were mine though! I posted to hear / seek others opinions. | |||
"I thaw apathy the other day it was pithing on my garden. Thucking caths " Took me a while | |||
"In answer to your question cultivating 'will' has been my antidote to apathy. I have always been fairly self directed and motivated, however three setbacks caused me to become more apathetic at times than I was happy with. Dealing with the underlying emotion and changing my situation at each of those times was key to overcoming. Dealing with the transition properly mourning the ending and freeing up the energy to envision each new beginning. It meant conceiving a new vision, creating new relationships I could invest myself in with people who were willing to reciprocate, establishing new things we could do together, then putting plans in place to do them etc etc..... The will was, I think, cultivated by releasing the energy restrained by the unfinished business of not dealing with the negative emotions held from the setbacks.
Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this. "I guess expecting the unexpected maybe a way of planning for endings.,However in each of these situations the ending was pretty much out of the blue. So planning could only start once I knew things were ending. That said each of them required me to reinvent myself in terms of what was going to do. Dealing with the shock, denial, anger, sadness, guilt, fear and anxiety were the real challenges to free up sufficient energy to be creative in the planning and effective in the execution of those plans | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have.
psychology today
My source was in the second comment. The questions were mine though! I posted to hear / seek others opinions. "I thought it was a good way of framing your questions. How else could you have explained what had provoked your inquiry. | |||
"In answer to your question cultivating 'will' has been my antidote to apathy. I have always been fairly self directed and motivated, however three setbacks caused me to become more apathetic at times than I was happy with. Dealing with the underlying emotion and changing my situation at each of those times was key to overcoming. Dealing with the transition properly mourning the ending and freeing up the energy to envision each new beginning. It meant conceiving a new vision, creating new relationships I could invest myself in with people who were willing to reciprocate, establishing new things we could do together, then putting plans in place to do them etc etc..... The will was, I think, cultivated by releasing the energy restrained by the unfinished business of not dealing with the negative emotions held from the setbacks.
Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this.
I guess expecting the unexpected maybe a way of planning for endings.,However in each of these situations the ending was pretty much out of the blue. So planning could only start once I knew things were ending. That said each of them required me to reinvent myself in terms of what was going to do. Dealing with the shock, denial, anger, sadness, guilt, fear and anxiety were the real challenges to free up sufficient energy to be creative in the planning and effective in the execution of those plans"Journaling is helping identify and work out which emotion is being experienced when. It's difficult to give each one the time it needs. I'm impatient. But when apathy hit, it consumed all! Greedy bugger. It too shall pass though. | |||
"I'm too apathetic to read your whole post so I'm no use Not used to my verbose posts, I have been absent this month!!
It would be interesting if there was a personal opinion involved, not just a cut and paste we could read elsewhere ...
I am assuming you haven't read it elsewhere, please correct me if you have.
psychology today
My source was in the second comment. The questions were mine though! I posted to hear / seek others opinions.
I thought it was a good way of framing your questions. How else could you have explained what had provoked your inquiry."Thank you. | |||
"In answer to your question cultivating 'will' has been my antidote to apathy. I have always been fairly self directed and motivated, however three setbacks caused me to become more apathetic at times than I was happy with. Dealing with the underlying emotion and changing my situation at each of those times was key to overcoming. Dealing with the transition properly mourning the ending and freeing up the energy to envision each new beginning. It meant conceiving a new vision, creating new relationships I could invest myself in with people who were willing to reciprocate, establishing new things we could do together, then putting plans in place to do them etc etc..... The will was, I think, cultivated by releasing the energy restrained by the unfinished business of not dealing with the negative emotions held from the setbacks.
Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this.
I guess expecting the unexpected maybe a way of planning for endings.,However in each of these situations the ending was pretty much out of the blue. So planning could only start once I knew things were ending. That said each of them required me to reinvent myself in terms of what was going to do. Dealing with the shock, denial, anger, sadness, guilt, fear and anxiety were the real challenges to free up sufficient energy to be creative in the planning and effective in the execution of those plans
Journaling is helping identify and work out which emotion is being experienced when. It's difficult to give each one the time it needs. I'm impatient. But when apathy hit, it consumed all! Greedy bugger. It too shall pass though. "In one of the situations only a bit of therapy helped me sort it out. Journaling helped a lot but the therapy helped me to see my blindspots. The others serendipity played a part in meeting the right people at the right time to help me move forward constructively. | |||
 | |||
| |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? " Well the way I see it........meh | |||
"In answer to your question cultivating 'will' has been my antidote to apathy. I have always been fairly self directed and motivated, however three setbacks caused me to become more apathetic at times than I was happy with. Dealing with the underlying emotion and changing my situation at each of those times was key to overcoming. Dealing with the transition properly mourning the ending and freeing up the energy to envision each new beginning. It meant conceiving a new vision, creating new relationships I could invest myself in with people who were willing to reciprocate, establishing new things we could do together, then putting plans in place to do them etc etc..... The will was, I think, cultivated by releasing the energy restrained by the unfinished business of not dealing with the negative emotions held from the setbacks.
Oh gosh it is often so much about not wanting to end the endings isn't it?! In work the whole concept of (social work type) professional boundaries teaches about how some people find goodbyes/endings painful and act out when on the precipice of one -- thus the recommendation is to plan early for endings and work towards them. I wonder if this should be being done in all things? Mmmm must think on this.
I guess expecting the unexpected maybe a way of planning for endings.,However in each of these situations the ending was pretty much out of the blue. So planning could only start once I knew things were ending. That said each of them required me to reinvent myself in terms of what was going to do. Dealing with the shock, denial, anger, sadness, guilt, fear and anxiety were the real challenges to free up sufficient energy to be creative in the planning and effective in the execution of those plans
Journaling is helping identify and work out which emotion is being experienced when. It's difficult to give each one the time it needs. I'm impatient. But when apathy hit, it consumed all! Greedy bugger. It too shall pass though.
In one of the situations only a bit of therapy helped me sort it out. Journaling helped a lot but the therapy helped me to see my blindspots. The others serendipity played a part in meeting the right people at the right time to help me move forward constructively."Ah yes. Blind spots. Damn it | |||
"Mindfulness " | |||
"I read an interesting article on humility and leadership today. Was going to put it on a thread but thought 'I can't do it as well as Estella does' so left it "No!! You just put the salient points into a post and ask a question (as was pointed out earlier!) -- go for it, that's a subject I would definitely be interested in. | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Well the way I see it........meh "Ahh bless. Been done tho. | |||
"I read an interesting article on humility and leadership today. Was going to put it on a thread but thought 'I can't do it as well as Estella does' so left it
No!! You just put the salient points into a post and ask a question (as was pointed out earlier!) -- go for it, that's a subject I would definitely be interested in. "I'll try to dig it out tomorrow and throw something up. | |||
"I read an interesting article on humility and leadership today. Was going to put it on a thread but thought 'I can't do it as well as Estella does' so left it
No!! You just put the salient points into a post and ask a question (as was pointed out earlier!) -- go for it, that's a subject I would definitely be interested in.
I'll try to dig it out tomorrow and throw something up. "I look forward to it - it's a subject I'm interested in | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Well the way I see it........meh
Ahh bless. Been done tho."I thought as much! I'm so full of apathy I didn't bother to read any replies or more than the first few lines of the original post! Bet I'm not the first to have said that either! It's more laziness than apathy with me anyway  | |||
"I read an interesting article on humility and leadership today. Was going to put it on a thread but thought 'I can't do it as well as Estella does' so left it
No!! You just put the salient points into a post and ask a question (as was pointed out earlier!) -- go for it, that's a subject I would definitely be interested in.
I'll try to dig it out tomorrow and throw something up. "Yay!! | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Well the way I see it........meh
Ahh bless. Been done tho.
I thought as much!
I'm so full of apathy I didn't bother to read any replies or more than the first few lines of the original post!
Bet I'm not the first to have said that either!
It's more laziness than apathy with me anyway "It's still funny! | |||
I don't know if my lack of drive that I get sometimes is apathy, or habit. Maybe laziness.
Anyway, I'm glad you're back! | |||
"Hello lovely... welcome back
I don't know if my lack of drive that I get sometimes is apathy, or habit. Maybe laziness.
Anyway, I'm glad you're back! "Hello my beauty! I'm back and sporting a broken foot.  | |||
"Hello lovely... welcome back
I don't know if my lack of drive that I get sometimes is apathy, or habit. Maybe laziness.
Anyway, I'm glad you're back!
Hello my beauty! I'm back and sporting a broken foot. "Whaaaaat!? Oh dear. | |||
"I prefer the term 'ennui'
Apathy or ennui, it's a downward spiral. There is almost always something interesting and different everyday and so many things to see and do. "Ennui is much more avant-guarde, dahling... | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? Well the way I see it........meh
Ahh bless. Been done tho.
I thought as much!
I'm so full of apathy I didn't bother to read any replies or more than the first few lines of the original post!
Bet I'm not the first to have said that either!
It's more laziness than apathy with me anyway
It's still funny! "This is what I strive for on here....still managing to be funny (mildly or otherwise) without having to read the posts! | |||
"I prefer the term 'ennui'
Apathy or ennui, it's a downward spiral. There is almost always something interesting and different everyday and so many things to see and do.
Ennui is much more avant-guarde, dahling..." | |||
| |||
| |||
"I don't really experience apathy universally, though may get aspects of life that have low interest and emotional charge. My answer to most things in life is rest - get enough rest generally, which is healthy - or take time out to work out what I need. It's easy to feel pressure to be on the go, to always be doing something, to be on a personal treadmill. I think it can erode our spirit. We do benefit from some novelty and challenge but it's also perfectly fine to be uncertain and unsure, whether about ourselves or our lives. It's easy to rush and race away from who we are, almost in a drive to be someone else. This isn't a solution for lack of emotional feeling or awareness but definitely helps me to remain grounded. And able to be self-aware, missing out on the fools gold. (plenty of that in abundance). " Thank you, that's a beautifully put response, really appreciated. I love your phrasing "erode our spirit" -- yes, yes! So much this. | |||
"I would consider myself apathetic. Maybe, as Beardy said above, it's to do with depression, or my medication taking away some of my emotions. I am, however, very empathetic. " Now you've set off a whole train of thought for me on empathy.
Today I'm mostly achieving just plain old pathetic!! | |||
"I would consider myself apathetic. Maybe, as Beardy said above, it's to do with depression, or my medication taking away some of my emotions. I am, however, very empathetic. Now you've set off a whole train of thought for me on empathy.
Today I'm mostly achieving just plain old pathetic!! "I care about others, more than I care about myself. It's a compulsion. | |||
"I would consider myself apathetic. Maybe, as Beardy said above, it's to do with depression, or my medication taking away some of my emotions. I am, however, very empathetic. Now you've set off a whole train of thought for me on empathy.
Today I'm mostly achieving just plain old pathetic!!
I care about others, more than I care about myself. It's a compulsion. "Nods. The word compulsion nailed that for me, yes -- I strongly relate to this. | |||
| |||
"The passage seems somewhat one sided. It realises the mind can't function (or apathetic values may rise) without the body but offers little advice when the body has failed, to not spiral in. It begins with very emotive language 'until you have experience love you can't describe it to others'. So leads to the question: Those who have experienced love will be able to tell you how to fall into love or not? As this is the answer in how to avoid apathy. For those who's bodies have failed, who's minds can only reference histories but do not hold apathetic stances. How would motivation be kept up, how are you kept engaged or have a care when apathy seems such an obvious negative. The paradox of Apathy is applying a literal stance to the word rather than observing the root that some things are out of our control." I'm not sure I understand your point, I'm afraid. I think the reference to love is stating that you can only attempt to describe the feeling of it if you've not actually experienced it and similarly suggests apathy (and I suppose any emotion really) is the same. I don't think that naturally means only someone who has been in love can tell you how to fall in love or someone who has experienced apathy can tell you how you fall into it, or anger, sadness etc....you've made that leap not the article...? I'm interested to understand more what you mean about the failing body bit....I'm not sure I've followed you -- are you saying that someone whose body is failing (perhaps with age or infirmity?) has no alternative but to become apathetic? | |||
| |||
"Love this post" | |||
"The passage seems somewhat one sided. It realises the mind can't function (or apathetic values may rise) without the body but offers little advice when the body has failed, to not spiral in. It begins with very emotive language 'until you have experience love you can't describe it to others'. So leads to the question: Those who have experienced love will be able to tell you how to fall into love or not? As this is the answer in how to avoid apathy. For those who's bodies have failed, who's minds can only reference histories but do not hold apathetic stances. How would motivation be kept up, how are you kept engaged or have a care when apathy seems such an obvious negative. The paradox of Apathy is applying a literal stance to the word rather than observing the root that some things are out of our control. I'm not sure I understand your point, I'm afraid. I think the reference to love is stating that you can only attempt to describe the feeling of it if you've not actually experienced it and similarly suggests apathy (and I suppose any emotion really) is the same. I don't think that naturally means only someone who has been in love can tell you how to fall in love or someone who has experienced apathy can tell you how you fall into it, or anger, sadness etc....you've made that leap not the article...? I'm interested to understand more what you mean about the failing body bit....I'm not sure I've followed you -- are you saying that someone whose body is failing (perhaps with age or infirmity?) has no alternative but to become apathetic? " The last 4 paragraphs is do lean towards the idea that you need to be physically motivated to break out of apathetic values, that you need to realise the sate, set goals, become engaged and change behaviours. I am playing devils advocate with the article - posturing ideas. If someone is failing, how would apathy be applied. My last sentence alludes to the application of psychology for the sake of psychology, though if there is no ability to create new memories when would 'apathy' be counted. This is why I mention someone being in love and possibly avoiding it or embracing it (for arguments sake) | |||
"The passage seems somewhat one sided. It realises the mind can't function (or apathetic values may rise) without the body but offers little advice when the body has failed, to not spiral in. It begins with very emotive language 'until you have experience love you can't describe it to others'. So leads to the question: Those who have experienced love will be able to tell you how to fall into love or not? As this is the answer in how to avoid apathy. For those who's bodies have failed, who's minds can only reference histories but do not hold apathetic stances. How would motivation be kept up, how are you kept engaged or have a care when apathy seems such an obvious negative. The paradox of Apathy is applying a literal stance to the word rather than observing the root that some things are out of our control. I'm not sure I understand your point, I'm afraid. I think the reference to love is stating that you can only attempt to describe the feeling of it if you've not actually experienced it and similarly suggests apathy (and I suppose any emotion really) is the same. I don't think that naturally means only someone who has been in love can tell you how to fall in love or someone who has experienced apathy can tell you how you fall into it, or anger, sadness etc....you've made that leap not the article...? I'm interested to understand more what you mean about the failing body bit....I'm not sure I've followed you -- are you saying that someone whose body is failing (perhaps with age or infirmity?) has no alternative but to become apathetic? The last 4 paragraphs is do lean towards the idea that you need to be physically motivated to break out of apathetic values, that you need to realise the sate, set goals, become engaged and change behaviours. I am playing devils advocate with the article - posturing ideas. If someone is failing, how would apathy be applied. My last sentence alludes to the application of psychology for the sake of psychology, though if there is no ability to create new memories when would 'apathy' be counted. This is why I mention someone being in love and possibly avoiding it or embracing it (for arguments sake)" I disagree that it's suggesting physicality -- energy can be mental energy from a mental inertia or physical. It's interesting that that is how you read it. I still can't make sense of your later points -- "how can apathy be applied?" And why would a failing body mean an inability to create new memories? And avoiding/embracing love? Eh? Sorry, I really don't follow. Apologies -- I'll leave someone else to interact with you as I'm not sure where you're coming from/going to! | |||
" I disagree that it's suggesting physicality -- energy can be mental energy from a mental inertia or physical. It's interesting that that is how you read it. I still can't make sense of your later points -- "how can apathy be applied?" And why would a failing body mean an inability to create new memories? And avoiding/embracing love? Eh? Sorry, I really don't follow. Apologies -- I'll leave someone else to interact with you as I'm not sure where you're coming from/going to! "Well apathy must have a scale to be measured otherwise it would fall into depression as you stated previous. You understand that people can become angry or sad and it follows that people can describe these emotions to others and it follows that people will be able to tell people how to avoid becoming angry or sad - There are many courses for anger management for instance. The article mentions love, and the inability for anyone to describe the feeling of love unless you have been in love (right at the top), so in reference to apathy - apathy can be both recognised and avoided if wanted. My point of a failing body and a mind within that body not able to create new memories is being take a little too simplistic as it is more to do with coping I'd think rather than memories, though it's an interesting debate. | |||
"What exactly is apathy? In a sense, it’s something like falling in love. You can describe it all you want, but until you’ve experienced it, you can only guess at what it feels like. Paradoxically, what makes the feeling of apathy unique is that it’s essentially the feeling of not feeling. And doubtless, it’s something that at some point in your existence you’ve encountered. We all have. For whenever you feel that something vital is missing from your life, yet lack the motivation or drive to pursue it, you’re afflicted with this curiously “emotionless” emotion. Through much psychological research, it’s now accepted science that you must experience feelings about something if you’re to take personally meaningful action on it. And without any compelling emotion to direct your behaviour -- and apathy literally means “without feeling” -- you just aren’t sufficiently stimulated to do much of anything. True, apathy is a feeling—though, like going numb, it’s one so muted or held with such unrecognizable tension that you may not feel it at all. But it’s also an attitude. And sadly, that attitude is one of indifference . . . unconcern . . . unresponsiveness . . . detachment . . . and dispassion. Such an attitude saps you of so much energy that you feel lethargic, listless, and enervated—almost too “paralyzed” to act—and certainly without the will to do so. Which is why apathetic individuals are easily identified by their very passivity. De-motivated and lacking enthusiasm, their interest in confronting life’s challenges is seriously compromised. They just don’t care enough. And frankly, they don’t care that they don’t care. For all who suffer from apathy, what’s lost is the fundamental hope that personal happiness or fulfillment is possible. Either they’ve ceased to believe in the intrinsic value of the goals they’d earlier set for themselves, or they’ve lost faith in their ability to achieve these goals. So they can’t think of anything worth striving for. As a result the raw mental, physical, or emotional energy for accomplishing what in the past may have been valued by them disappears. It’s lost, and nowhere to be found. Additionally, although feelings of depression frequently go hand-in-hand with apathy (and at times are almost indistinguishable from it), it should be noted that apathy can sometimes occur all by itself. If there’s an overarching cause for apathy, it’s probably pessimism about your future. And that self-defeating attitude could derive either from early childhood programming, which led you to believe that no matter how conscientiously you applied yourself, you still couldn’t succeed -- or, more commonly, a series of events in your present life that left you feeling you simply couldn’t win for losing. So when you’ve sunk down into the deep pit of apathy, and climbing out seems far too arduous for the amount of energy at your disposal, what’s to be done? Although there are many practical things you can do about your apathy, you won’t be able to do any of them unless you manage to change your mind-set. Regardless of what initially caused you to feel so unmotivated, it’s your present-day outlook on it that now keeps you stuck. Your immediate task, then, is to alter this outlook. In short, you’re much better off focusing on how to fix what’s inside your head than what lies outside it. And no question but that you’ll need to force yourself -- yes, force yourself! -- to uproot what’s already taken residence deep inside you. So ask yourself: “Am I willing to make a commitment to myself to give this apathy the fight of its life, even though doing so feels like it will take a lot more energy and effort than I’m now capable of?” Remember, if your languor continues indefinitely, its repercussions can be enormous. You can’t possibly live life to the fullest -- be happy, fulfilled, or content -- if you give up actively pursuing your goals and desires. In addition, failing to act can lower your self-esteem, and eventuate in such distressing feelings as worthlessness, guilt or shame. So what practical tips do you have for overcoming your apathy (or helping someone to overcome their apathy)? Are you suffering currently? What's causing it? Does apathy and procrastination go hand in hand? Is there an importance to recognising what causes our apathy? *shrugs* Meh" Wow  this is a little to deep & dark for me... Sorry! | |||
| |||
| |||
