Posted by BryanII on September 20, 2006, at 17:28:30
In reply to Apathy and no motivation, but otherwise fine, posted by HelenInCalif on September 20, 2006, at 3:08:44
I have wondered if this happens to other people. I’ve had some similar experiences with apathy and haven't figured it out.
I think you are on to the right strategy. Get your questions and your description of your experience straight before meeting with your psychiatrist. Bring notes if needed. You may have to push the point and also be lucky in who you are seeing; the default professional bias seems to be that apathy is just a feature of depression.
Though I've had apathy during depression, I've also experienced paralyzing apathy without depression as well as depression without apathy. The "apathy-only" is sometimes transitional to depression, but sometimes it is its own problem.
Your comment about not initiating things struck a nerve. It seems like there's "I don't give a rip" apathy but also "I can't get started" apathy. Caring about something and initiating action about it seem to be separate processes and might be biologically distinct. Maybe animal behaviorists or neurobiologists have studied this?
I have periods where I just can't initiate (work, social contacts, etc) even though I feel OK emotionally. Normally I'm very self-motivated and independent, but at these times I feel totally inert. I can't get started on my own, but if someone else gets something started I can engage with it, contribute well and even enjoy it. I'm not blocked by fear or depression; this is different. I wouldn't say everything else is completely normal, but inertia is the main thing.
I've thought about using a buddy system to try to stay on task (having a coworker partner on projects and leaning on them to set the pace), but that’s quite a burden and not really their job.
Good luck figuring this out. I hope someone has some good insights and strategies.
poster:BryanII
thread:687589
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060919/msgs/687715.html