Have you ever felt that you are passionate about nothing, nothing motivates you and you simply don’t care what you do or don’t do? Have you met someone who has no desires or aspirations for anything and who is always apathetic? Would you like Know why you don’t really feel like doing things? If this is something that is happening to yourself or you know someone to whom it happens and you would like to know the reasons why this happens, you need to know that there is a disorder that causes a lack of motivation. and will in people.
This type of disorder is known as avolition and is present in many other mental disorders. But what exactly is abulia? What are its symptoms? And above all, how can we treat it to cure it? In this Psychology-Online article we will talk about abulia: meaning, symptoms and treatment, Furthermore, we are going to tell you in detail what exactly this type of pathology consists of.
Abulia: meaning according to psychology
Apathy is the total lack of will, motivation and initiative what is needed to carry out an activity and even to make a decision. “?” This is a question frequently asked by people who have avolition.
It is a psychological disorder in which our own voluntary motor activity is altered, so a person who suffers from it is characterized by experiencing a constant feeling of helplessness, problems making their own decisions and therefore directing their actions towards some specific objective because all people need to have some motivation, no matter how minimal it may be to start carrying out an activity or carry out an action plan and achieve any objective. This can range from the need to look for a job to obtain financial resources and support ourselves, to the need to begin carrying out a series of activities such as studying for an exam and finally finishing a university degree, etc.
Abulia and depression
People with apathy do not feel that initial motivation that arises from wanting to achieve something, so it is difficult for them to begin to carry out actions voluntarily and this makes it difficult for them to make their own decisions since they feel apathy for almost everything. They usually act impulsively and automatically.
Avolition is highly related to depression. This is because it’s a symptom which is part of the depressive condition. When a person has no will or motivation, it usually leads to some type of mood disorder.
Schizophrenia and avolition
It is important to note that abulia can also be part of a problem, so it is important to carry out a thorough psychological and medical examination to determine if there is any disorder that accompanies avolition.
Symptoms of avolition
People who suffer from this disorder present a series of symptoms that make it evident, the main ones being the following:
- Lack of motivation and disinterest in carrying out any activity and/or reaching any goal.
- Disturbance due to the person’s desire to achieve some goal or objective.
- The affectivity and emotionality of the person is altered. For example, if one of your loved ones becomes seriously ill, you cannot really contact the emotion that you would normally be experiencing, such as sadness, so you are emotionally apathetic in this situation and it hurts you more to feel this way and not be able to feel pain than it does. See your loved one suffer.
- As time goes by, it becomes more difficult for you to think because you have no will or motivation for anything.
- Due to his own apathy and lack of will, he ceases to be interested in speaking and .
- Even though he knows he has to do certain things, he is not able to get started and prefers to entertain himself and waste your time in other things.
Abulia: psychological and psychiatric treatment
Now that you know the meaning of avolition and its symptoms, let’s discuss what the best treatment is. Sometimes this disorder can go unnoticed, so it is necessary to observe very carefully What are the symptoms that the patient presents, a question in which the family members closest to the patient are of great help.
Likewise, a comparison with behavior that the patient now has and with his previous behavior and the possible causes that led to the appearance of avolition are also investigated in depth. Avolition can appear after having suffered a brain injury, cardiovascular diseases, cognitive impairment, depression, schizophrenia, among other disorders. Therefore, it is necessary to determine under what context this type of condition exists, which is part of the initial evaluation, due to this, the treatment is not the same for all patients.
How to treat avolition
Generally The treatment is at a psychological and pharmacological level.. The objective of psychological therapy is to awaken in the patient an interest in carrying out his daily activities and in new ones that he has never done, to this end he is proposed to carry out those that he finds pleasant. It also helps to awaken motivation through the administration of some stimulant drugs.
It works in the same way with techniques such as cognitive restructuring where those ideas and beliefs that the person has ingrained and that make the problem continue to persist over time are modified, changing them for more positive and objective ones. It is recommended to teach the patient’s family members certain techniques and strategies that can be implemented at home to help spark the interest and motivation of the affected person.
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Rojas, ZRA (sf). The psychiatric examination of the patient. Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://www.binasss.sa.cr/bibliotecas/bhp/examenpsiquiatria.pdf
- Abulia. (sf). Retrieved December 14, 2018, from http://www.neurowikia.es/content/abulia