We explain what apathy is, its differences with laziness and examples from everyday life. In addition, we tell you the origin of the term.
What is apathy?
The apathy It is the lack of encouragement and motivation for life. It manifests itself through disinterest and neglect towards both personal and work-related matters, and in extreme cases it can even encompass one's own survival. People who go through a state of apathy are called apathetic.
The term “apathy” comes from the Greek word apatheiawhich can be translated as “without emotion” or “without passion” (since it is formed by the prefix to-, “without”, and the voice pathos“passion” or “emotion”). It is a word with a long tradition in the West, which was used by Christian thinkers to describe a state of radical distancing from worldly affairs, that is, a mystical detachment from the body and appetites, in favor of the soul. In that religious tradition, apathy was understood as a utopian state, but a desirable one.
The current connotation of the word, however, more linked to psychology, psychiatry and mental disorders, emerged in the 20th century, together with the scientific study of the mind, in the particular context of the surviving soldiers of the First World War (1914-1918), who subsequently showed high rates of apathy and disinterest in life, due to the severe post-traumatic stress they suffered.
Today psychiatrists understand apathy as symptom of moderate depression or some other emotional or psychological problem that underlies It is not a form of laziness or simple lack of motivation, but rather the absence of vital desire, the total indifference to one's own destiny and that of others. A very specific form of apathy is called sexual apathythat is, the prolonged lack of libido (sexual desire) in a person who normally experiences it.
In any case, an apathetic person does not find the desire to carry out the tasks that he regularly performs without problem or doing them requires a much greater effort than it normally takes. This condition in itself cannot be treated or cured, but it is understood as an indicator of other problems that can be addressed, whether emotional and affective, or psychiatric and neurological in nature.
On the other hand, In contexts other than that of the human mind, apathy is understood as the absence of reaction to a considerable stimulus. For example, societies that respond passively to political events that openly endanger them or that will later pose a greater problem (such as the establishment of a dictatorship, for example) are accused of apathy.
See also: Strengths and weaknesses of a person
Examples of apathy in everyday life
Some examples of apathetic conditions in everyday life are the following:
- Lack of appetite, which leads the person to long periods of fasting.
- The absence of sexual desire, which manifests itself in long periods of abstinence or sexual dysfunction.
- The lack of drive to get out of bed in the morning and to undertake the usual personal hygiene routine.
- Indifference regarding the destiny of working life.
- Disinterest in the topics that normally excite the person.
Continue with: Hope
References
- “Apathy” on Wikipedia.
- “Apathy” in the Language Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy.
- “Etymology of Apathy” in the Online Spanish Etymological Dictionary.
- “How to recognize apathy” in Infobae (Argentina).
