Apathy: A Dis-ease

[eye_of_the_storm]

“The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”

Plato quotes

Any philosophy promoting apathy / indifference is a threat to humanity.

Apathy is a disease on all levels.

Apathy will lead to the destruction of humanity.

Has anyone seen Serenity?

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[eye_of_the_storm]

Apathy in neuropsychiatric disease: diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment.

Chase TN.

Source Chase Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Washington, DC, USA. [email protected]

 

Abstract

Apathy is an increasingly recognized concomitant of a broad range of central nervous system disorders. Nevertheless, its nosology, pathogenesis and therapy remain shrouded in confusion and controversy. As yet, there is little consensus regarding methods for detecting apathy, or distinguishing it from depression, or for assessing its severity. Many now regard the apathy syndrome as primarily reflecting a lack of motivation that compromises emotional, cognitive, and overt behavioral function. Even though under-recognized and under-diagnosed, apathy hardly appears uncommon: current epidemiologic studies suggest over 10 million Americans may be affected. Its reported frequency in various neurologic and psychiatric conditions varies widely, from less than 10 to over 80%, reflecting differences in population characteristics and assessment procedures. Often apathy has been associated with such neurodegenerative disorders as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and fronto-temporal dementia. But it also occurs in those with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and major depression. Clinical, neuropathologic, and neuroimaging observations increasingly suggest that apathy reflects dysfunction of frontal-subcortical circuits, especially those linking the ventromedial prefrontal cortex to related regions in the basal ganglia. Therapeutically, numerous small studies suggest that psychostimulants, dopaminergics, and cholinesterase inhibitors may benefit those manifesting this syndrome. However, no adequately powered, randomized controlled trials have reported success and no medication have ever been approved for this disorder. The accelerating pace of current research nevertheless promises to improve our understanding of apathy and to better address the unmet medical needs of those suffering its consequences.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20473601

 

What is the cause?

 

What is the remedy?

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Jetsun]

As Jung says its no sign of health to well adjusted to a profoundly sick society, or something like that. In some cases apathy might be a sign of health.

 

Or I suppose if you see society is sick you should try do something about it, so I guess apathy is related to feeling powerless.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Jetsun

[Marblehead]

Yea! A thread where I can agree with you. But then, I think it is important that we choose wisely those things we are going to concern ourself with.

 

And yes, I have see Serenity. She is a fleeting sweetheart though. Sometime here, othertimes location totally unknown.

[Stosh]

Transactions and Strokes

• Transactions are the flow of communication, and more specifically the unspoken psychological flow of communication that runs in parallel. Transactions occur simultaneously at both explicit and psychological levels. Example: sweet caring voice with sarcastic intent. To read the real communication requires both surface and non-verbal reading.
• Strokes are the recognition, attention or responsiveness that one person gives another. Strokes can be positive (nicknamed "warm fuzzies"^[9]) or negative ("cold pricklies"). A key idea is that people hunger for recognition, and that lacking positive strokes, will seek whatever kind they can, even if it is recognition of a negative kind. We test out as children what strategies and behaviours seem to get us strokes, of whatever kind we can get.

People often create pressure in (or experience pressure from) others to communicate in a way that matches their style, so that a boss who talks to his staff as a controlling parent will often engender self-abasement or other childlike responses. Those employees who resist may get removed or labeled as "trouble".

Transactions can be experienced as positive or negative depending on the nature of the strokes within them. However, a negative transaction is preferred to no transaction at all, because of a fundamental hunger for strokes.

The nature of transactions is important to understanding communication.

 

There you go , cause and cure for apathy

Next question..

[Flolfolil]

being apathetic doesn't have to mean being well adjusted to a sick society, it can mean transcending it entirely

 

they only have power over you if you believe they do

the only thing that is untouchable is the self

[Flolfolil]

so I guess apathy is related to feeling powerless.

 

the only power i want is control over my emotions. pretty funny that the way to get that is to stop trying to control them. hehe.

 

let the powerlessness envelope you and wait for death in the darkness. it isn't all that bad.

 

am i trolling? maybe in a subconscious way. you don't have to agree with me

[Maddie]

One of my main interests in the study of TCM is the treatment of psychological health. A large percentage of patients I get come in for these types of issues, apathy being included. So wanting to help my patients I look into these various disorders from a TCM point of view. If I get an apathetic patient this is how I generally tend to treat it, allowing of course for individual differences.

 

First in just about every case that I see I look at the Kidneys first very often as they are the foundation of so many factors in the body. One of the mental aspects of the Kidneys is the will. Also by far one of the most common organs to be deficient in most people in our society. So you have the part of you that is responsible for having a will deficient then you will lack will. It is actually very rare for me to see a patient who's kidney's are not deficient. So it would seem that we have a society of people who lack will.

 

Sometimes people mistake anger for will, but this not the same thing. In fact very often anger is a result of not having much will. The kidneys being water are supposed to feed the liver being wood. If the liver wood is not getting enough kidney water your poor liver is weak, tired, and frustrated, so it gets angry easier. Also since the wood element (liver/gallbladder) is responsible for planning, foresight, decision making, and problem solving if this is not getting enough of what it needs (kidney water) then all of these functions will suffer as well...apathy.

 

Finally is the heart fire. So if there is not enough water making enough wood, then you don't have enough wood for the fire of your heart. Being that the heart houses your shen (spirit) and mind, and its emotions are joy and enthusiasm. So if your heart is not getting enough of what it needs then you will not have a whole lot of enthusiasm, again another component of apathy.

[Flolfolil]

what if one has enthusiasm for being apathetic?

 

every spiritual practice i do that is supposed to make me feel compassion for other people and want to help them just leads me further into letting go of the material world.

[Flolfolil]

the internet says that apathy is the suppression of emotions.

 

isn't telling people that they are diseased essentially trying to suppress the apathy?

 

what's with all the suppression?

[Marblehead]

what's with all the suppression?

I don't suppress anything. That's why I got suspended for three days a while back.

[eye_of_the_storm]

Would an apathetic person care about suppressing apathy?

Which I think is partly the problem apathy overcomes people.

If a good portion of the population are in this state... no fire (heart?) to fight back

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Flolfolil]

did you change your post to say "to fight back" instead of "to fight back against evil" for any particular reason?

[eye_of_the_storm]

I thought I'd tone it down a little

But you caught me so lets roll with it yeh?

Our most beloved Corporatocracy / Bankocracy = Evil?

The groups pounding humanity into the ground relentlessly...

Though apathy is in the people + mass manic depression?

A dark, dark cloud.

Thread is an off-shoot from

Top 1% of the world owns 81% of the world's wealth.

How do we reignite our brothers!? and take back our planet?

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Maddie]

what if one has enthusiasm for being apathetic?

 

every spiritual practice i do that is supposed to make me feel compassion for other people and want to help them just leads me further into letting go of the material world.

 

There is a world of difference between letting go and apathy even though its possible on the surface they might appear similar at a glance.

 

Letting go means you don'g cling it something.

 

Someone who is apathetic can cling to something very much, just not have the energy or hope that they can obtain what they cling to.

[eye_of_the_storm]

I guess SFQ has a good vision... a healer in every family?

Now that would be something hmm

[Flolfolil]

someone give me a list of practices aimed at destroying apathy, i want to see if it is possible. Give me undeniable proof that good and evil exist and that i should want to fight against them instead of just waiting for the afterlife?

 

i am not being sarcastic or challenging your beliefs, i honestly want to see if i can be convinced that i should change my ways.

[eye_of_the_storm]

someone give me a list of practices aimed at destroying apathy, i want to see if it is possible. Give me undeniable proof that good and evil exist and that i should want to fight against them instead of just waiting for the afterlife?

 

i am not being sarcastic or challenging your beliefs, i honestly want to see if i can be convinced that i should change my ways.

 

They will kill you if you dont. (generally speaking, with all respect)

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Flolfolil]

but wont they kill me if i fight against them too?

 

but i don't want to get into the government talk, sorry for that

 

srsly though. help me understand why i should crusade for good, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

i want to see if i can whole-heartedly agree with you, because right now it seems like i am missing a crucial part of the puzzle

[eye_of_the_storm]

Die fighting or die for nothing?

To liberate the planet + humanity

One can fight in many ways though... for example and I think the most effective would be "non-doing" haha

Don't get loans/ "credit", don't get anything other than bare essentials... get off the grid basically and bleed the system dry/ starve the beast x 7 billion warriors.

Non- violence, peaceful resistance.

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Flolfolil]

i peacefully resist whatever law might get in my way, but i don't consider it a form of revolution. i do it because i believe that anarchy already exists. you have the ability to commit a 'crime' and a cop has the ability to arrest you for it

 

anarchy exists, but i don't want to not have a system for living. systems exist because sometimes they work. idk, i enjoy my air conditioned apartment and non-local fruit that i can buy at the store. Would i trade it for my own self-sustaining farm? Yes, in a second i would. But some people don't want to, and i don't think not wanting to be a farmer makes you instantly a happy slave

 

i think the planet would be completely liberated if we just all sat down, stopped caring, and waited to die. Seriously, i'm not suicidal myself but i am totally supportive of it. "Right to die" is what it is called but i don't personally like the term "rights"

[eye_of_the_storm]

Yes it is strange to have to call it a right... as in they allow it but it was never theirs to allow (not that they do by "law").

Looking more for an evolution than a revolution.

Don't you want to take that next step? to go beyond?

Edited May 6, 2013 by White Wolf Running On Air

[Flolfolil]

Don't you want to take that next step? to go beyond?

but i can go beyond and accept the world with apathy

[Maddie]

oh well if we are talking about the political spectrum you can always write to their congressman/MP. You still don't have to be apathetic if you don't want to be :-)

 

But then again there is also a difference between apathy and people's varied interests. I guess technically when it comes to politics I could be called apathetic, but not really. I'm just not interested in that topic. Now if deep down I had an interest in politics but just felt that it was hopeless or impossible to do anything in this realm that would be apathy. I just have other interests.

Edited May 6, 2013 by dmattwads

[eye_of_the_storm]

Meh doesn't have to be so - I just trash canned the politics.