Ataraxia has its origin in philosophy. Different philosophical schools promoted the idea of working on the ability not to be affected by anything. It refers to the ability to remain calm in different potentially painful situations, without becoming upset or disturbed.
Sometimes, the inability to feel certain emotions is due to a brain injury, that is, it would no longer be a goal to achieve, but rather a permanent disability that can cause damage to our work, social and family environment. In this Psychology-Online article, we tell you what is ataraxia in psychology with examples how it can manifest.
What is ataraxia
The meaning of ataraxia in psychology refers to the ability to remain calm in adverse situations and control one’s own emotions. Its main purpose is to learn not to be controlled by these emotions.
This state may not be sought voluntarily, as it is sometimes due to a brain injury. In these cases, what causes ataraxia? Specifically, it occurs when the prefrontal area, responsible for decision-making and the ability to reason, and the limbic system, responsible for processing emotions, of our brain have been damaged or the connections between both areas have been damaged.
Lack of initiative
Lack of initiative is a fairly common trait of people with ataraxia. They simply go with the flow, without considering changing course. As we said, they have damage to the prefrontal area of their brain, which causes them to have this inability to make decisions.
Furthermore, because nothing produces any concrete emotion in them, they are also unable to make any decision to change a situation. For example, if they had a very stressful job they would not be able to perceive this stress and how this stress harms their physical health or their family and social environment. In this context they would not make the decision to look for another, less stressful job.
In this article, we show you what it is.
Lack of intense emotions
Another example of ataraxia is the lack of intense emotions. Regardless of what happens around the person who suffers from ataraxia, he or she does not react in an intense way. He does not have strong outbursts of anger, anxiety, sadness or joy, but rather his emotions are much less intense. Therefore, it seems that they always have a more neutral emotional state.
On many occasions, this causes people around you to see you as insensitive or disinterested in a certain situation, such as. For example, before the birth of a baby or after the death of someone. Discover .
Lack of empathy
Due to their inability to feel emotions, it is quite common for people with ataraxia They don’t understand how others feel. Consequently, this means that they do not feel guilty when they have hurt someone.
They may apologize but this will surely be because they follow social protocol and not because they really feel bad and understand the other person’s feelings. Likewise, they are not good emotional support, since it is very difficult for them to understand the suffering of others. Know the .
Lack of limits
Without a doubt, the lack of limits is an example of ataraxia. Due to the above, they often have a lack of understanding about where the limits should be when speaking or behaving. They can become too direct when speaking or say what they think without a filter. In this article, you will find more information about .
Lack of frustration
Although it is necessary to have a certain tolerance for frustration and not break down when we do not get what we want, people with ataraxia have a zero frustration level. When their goals are disrupted, it doesn’t seem to affect them in any way.
For example, if you fail an exam or are fired from a job, people with ataraxia would not really be affected.
Apathy
Another example of ataraxia in psychology is . Lack of feelings leads to lack of motivation. By not being able to enjoy any activity or any person, the person who suffers from ataraxia ends up not feeling motivated nor energy to start any activity. This is related to reward circuits. If when doing an activity dopamine does not rise, and you do not have pleasant sensations, simply over time the person lose interest.
On the other hand, by not having the ability to feel stress, they do not feel that pressure, sometimes so necessary, to study more for an exam or to increase the pace at work and finish tasks on time. For this and the rest of the reasons, it is quite common for people with ataraxia to have serious problems in their daily lives.
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
- Altarejos, F. (2004). Self-regulation and integration: two proposals in the education of affectivity (D. Goleman and Tomás de Aquino). Studies in Education, 7, 45-66.
- García Sedeño, MA (2016). Emotions as a component of human rationality.
- González laGier, D. (2020). Emotions without sentimentality. Emotions and judicial decisions, 04-23.
- Jiménez, MEG (2017). 1. CONCEPT OF EMOTION. HISTORICAL TOUR. Emotional well-being in education: Let’s start with the Teachers, 81.
- Pinzón Gaitán, MC, & Escobar Hernández, JP (2020). Ataraxia: find a place of peace through your senses.