- June 14, 2019
- Depressive states
- Ekaterina Kirillova
Many people are interested in the name of the state when you don’t want anything. Let's say right away: it is called apathy. More specifically, apathy is a mental state characterized by a decreased ability to feel emotions and physical stimuli. A person experiencing this is reluctant to engage in any activity, leaves existing social relationships and avoids building new ones. Read about the causes of this disease and its symptoms, and find out how to treat it.
Apathy: what to do if you don’t want anything
A person in this state loses the will to live, cannot engage in any activities, and limits his daily duties to the necessary minimum. Often activities that were usually enjoyable, entertaining, or a source of relaxation fall completely out of his range of interests. Usually apathy is accompanied by so-called automatism. When consuming food, talking with loved ones, or doing everyday activities, a person in this state behaves like a robot, creating the impression of “action on autopilot.” Feeling depressed, reducing your needs to a minimum or worsening your mood and slowing down your desires are other factors associated with apathy. This, in essence, is the answer to the question of what the state is called when you don’t want anything. Now let's move on to specifics.
Symptoms
Symptoms of apathy occur in many forms and with varying intensities. The effect that this disease has on a person depends on individual characteristics. However, it is worth knowing the main symptoms that are the common denominator when this disorder occurs. Apathy, as a state of mind when you don’t want anything, usually affects functioning in several areas:
- Mood and emotions. Decreased mood, tendency to feel sad and depressed. Difficulty expressing emotions associated with joy. A feeling of absence of any emotions, giving the impression of emotional numbness.
- Reaction to physical stimuli. When we experience apathy, we react differently to the information our body tells us. Responses related to basic needs such as hunger, thirst or sexual desire are very limited. Apathy is often accompanied by less sensitivity to physical pain.
- Social relations. Restriction or withdrawal from existing social relationships. Reluctance to build new ones. People experiencing apathy often avoid gatherings, even among friends and family. Still don’t understand what the state is called when you don’t want anything? It is not surprising, since apathy does not only imply a lack of desires. Based on this list alone, it is already clear that it affects the entire life activity of a person.
- When people with apathy decide to take part in a social event, it is often accompanied by a feeling of great effort or automatic behavior. That is, they seem to overcome themselves, act like robots.
- Intellectual and cognitive activity. The state of apathy usually negatively affects concentration, learning and memory. Difficulties in these areas further impede intellectual activity, which, in turn, reduces opportunities in this area, creating a kind of vicious circle.
- Physical activity. Apathy implies abandonment of existing activities. Performing daily duties is usually limited to a minimum or takes the form of automatic behavior. Activities related to sports or recreation are suspended, and new challenges and problems are left to chance. Sometimes this is associated with a loss of physical strength, and sometimes with a lack of feeling the positive emotions that were associated with such physical activity. Apathy often affects the need to take care of one’s appearance. A person in this state can push himself very hard.
- Dream. Apathy can also affect the quantity and quality of sleep. The body's reactions in this area can be very different, causing excessive drowsiness, a feeling of constant fatigue and other difficulties. This also makes a person feel like he is not in the mood, doesn’t want to do anything, and so on.
Gender differences
A workaholic man suffers more from weakened mental health and is characterized by increased anxiety. He puts his physical condition at risk and there is a lack of psychological well-being. First of all, he worries about his family, especially if he is the only breadwinner. If the opposite situation occurs, and the woman brings the main income to the family, she does not experience any psychological problems, but on the contrary receives emotional satisfaction. The fact is that the norm for men is that he should be a breadwinner and provide for his relatives. No one will praise him for this, this is his responsibility. In a situation where he loses income, he immediately feels the indignation of his loved ones and friends. As for women, initially no one expects this from them. When they achieve great success in their career, everyone around them admires it. Such praise gives incentive, and the woman works with even greater desire, zeal and pleasure. Moreover, if she starts earning less, she will not receive reproach in her direction.
A workaholic woman is more susceptible to stress and the development of depression. Her risk of strokes and heart attacks increases. For men, this issue is not so acute.
Causes of apathy
Everyone sometimes experiences a decrease in psychophysical activity. A few days of low mood or temporary need to withdraw from overly active activities (or relationships) are a natural part of human life. However, if this condition is prolonged, you should pay attention to it. Often, apathy is a warning signal for us, which suggests that it’s time to think about a little respite and listen to our desires.
When thinking about your psychophysical state, it is always useful to first rule out medical causes of apathy. This condition can be accompanied by a number of diseases - cardiovascular and endocrine diseases, diabetes, etc. That is why it is so important to contact your family doctor to rule out possible medical causes of apathy if this condition persists. Disorders and mental illnesses can also cause apathy. It is worth consulting with a psychologist or psychiatrist. Apathy is often a symptom of mental disorders and illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, so consultation with a specialist can help rule out this type of disorder or begin immediate treatment and prevention. And apparently, psychologists and psychiatrists now have quite a lot of work, if we remember the popularity of questions to them in the spirit of “I don’t want anything in life, what to do.”
Becoming good employees without consequences
If you work overtime, then only for additional pay.
If a person wants to achieve good results at work, get career growth, earn more money, and at the same time not harm his rest or personal life, he can adhere to certain rules.
- Work overtime. You can ask your boss for additional responsibilities, take work home, or become a proactive employee. However, work beyond the norm must be paid separately.
- Strengthen your social connections. There is no need to ignore lunch breaks and continue to throw yourself into work. During this time, you definitely need to eat well and communicate with colleagues. It would be a good idea to gather in a cafe after work from time to time. If children ask to spend a holiday together, do not refuse them.
- If you are given a serious task that requires a quick solution, try to complete everything as quickly as possible, ahead of the expected deadline.
Prolonged stress
Chronic stress associated with the profession, family difficulties, long-term financial problems, an excess of tasks that need to be solved, etc. Often it is very busy, busy and nervous people who wonder what the condition is called when you don’t want anything. The need for constant activity and the lack of rest or even a little respite are factors contributing to the emergence of some apathy. Intense activity, a fast pace of life and an inability to reduce emotional stress are often the cause of apathy.
Age
When thinking about the apathy and mental states of your relatives, it is worth paying attention to the age factor. Teenagers often experience low mood, which, on the one hand, is due to developmental norms, and on the other hand, should not frighten parents too much. Chronic blues are also a common companion for older people. This fact makes them a social group particularly susceptible to feelings of apathy.
How to deal with apathy?
If apathy is only a temporary condition, you can try to cope with it yourself. This is the best time to make some changes in your daily schedule. Find time to relax, recuperate, and pay more attention to work-life balance. Regular relaxation practice, autogenic training or participation in stress reduction workshops can bring the expected results. Taking care of a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise should go some way to alleviating the negative feelings associated with apathy.
Signs and behavioral characteristics of toxic employees
The distinctive features of toxic employees are usually called unmotivated aggression, inconsistency in reactions, and pursuit of personal gain.
Such people do not respect colleagues and do not try to be ethical, do not consider the leader as an authority and do not want to follow directions. Here are a few more signs that you are dealing with a toxic person.
Ignores corporate values
Company executives at different levels interviewed for the article agree that toxic employees tend to ignore corporate values. They do not pay attention to accepted rules, subordination, or the atmosphere in the team. Instead of either accepting the work style or not accepting the vacancy, they try to impose their ideas about work algorithms and management style on their colleagues and management.
Not only ordinary employees, but also managers can be toxic.
However, they do not always openly demonstrate toxic behavior; there are few brawlers among them. They usually do their job well and have good relationships with their colleagues. Toxic employees pursue personal goals - they need power, status, benefits. Please note: sometimes this behavior is a kind of defense, since the employee does not have the knowledge and competencies necessary for the position. Or is it an attempt to express disagreement with the work of the system, rules and procedures in the company.In an ideal world, you would say goodbye to toxic employees. In reality, support professionals who may become victims of toxic colleagues, otherwise the company will lose good employees.
Ekaterina Nistratova
HR Director at BSA
Considers himself the best
A person is sure that no one can cope with any task better than him. This kind of thinking also manifests itself in relation to colleagues - often the “best” person speaks disparagingly about the results of other people’s work, sees mistakes in them, and constantly criticizes the activities of others. It's hard to get praise from him. Even if he notices something good, he will still focus on the bad in his assessment.
Such employees sincerely believe that no one can cope with the assigned tasks better than them.
Therefore, instead of competent delegation, they will sit for days and do everything on their own. And if they suddenly try to delegate something, they will thoroughly control every step and breath of the performer, ask a million questions and accuse people of incompetence. In teams led by such specialists, there is no coherence and organization, and there is a strong “internal bureaucracy”. We once encountered such a case. The person refused to find a common language with the team and management, preferring to focus on his opinion. I had to part with the employee.”Alexander Bochkin
General Director of Infomaximum
He has a negative attitude towards everything
A distinctive feature of some toxic employees is a negative attitude towards any innovations, work and life in general. Here we are not talking about difficult situations when we want to let off steam, whine a little and feel sorry for ourselves. No, this is a permanent human condition.
Toxic people tend to dramatize every little thing. They react to problems not by trying to solve them, but by giving up and immediately giving up. This attitude towards life and work is transmitted to the team.
Someone will feel sorry for toxic employees and try to help them. As a result, instead of two full-time employees, the manager gets one who is useless and another who works half-heartedly, because time and resources will be spent on supportive conversations.
Part of the team succumbs to negative moods. People may wonder if the toxic employee is really right and everything is so bad. It's demotivating.
He constantly criticizes everything
Along with a negative attitude towards life, toxic employees develop a passion for criticism. For some reason, they believe that they know everything better than anyone else, and never believe in the success of a new project.
This attitude can be used in brainstorming sessions. A toxic employee, if he knows how to use arguments, and not just emotional assessments, will be useful - he will see potential problems that employees with a positive attitude towards the project did not think about.
But it is impossible to constantly work next to a person who criticizes and devalues your activities - even a strong psyche cannot withstand constant pressure. The result will be either a loss of self-confidence or open conflict.
He has a penchant for intrigue
In toxic teams, energy is usually used not for solving work problems, but for collecting information about colleagues, creating and spreading gossip. Gradually, all the time at work is spent on intrigue - employees discuss who said what, why it was necessary, what conclusions can be drawn from this, and how to get their way through manipulation.
Convenient tools for recording personnel events, generating orders and other documents. Easy transition to electronic labor and sick leave certificates.
To learn more
Communication in such teams is poisoned: it is impossible to get even basic work actions from colleagues, because any requests are perceived as an element of intrigue. People who just want to work do not stick around such employees. It’s easier to quit and find a suitable vacancy than to understand the intricacies of the relationship between a nominal boss, an accountant and a couple of managers.
He has a lot of activity, but little work results
Another sign of a toxic employee is a lack of real work results. Such people can be excellent conversationalists, constantly take part in social activities, and be friends with colleagues. But when it comes time to analyze the results, they are the ones with the least amount of work done. This demotivates other employees: people begin to doubt the need to work, because they work, and the toxic colleague is paid, in fact, to be present at the workplace.
Or another example: there are results of the work, but it was done by someone else’s hands. Colleagues may be offended by this, because they are the ones who do it, and the toxic specialist receives praise from management.
We call such employees the soul of the company.
This can be a cheerful, active and generally quite pleasant person to talk to. It is not a problem for him to find a common topic for conversation, give advice, share a story from his life, even if not asked, help in organizing a holiday, carry bottles of water and much, much more. He just doesn’t have time left to complete immediate work tasks. There are such people in every team, regardless of the size of the company and its specifics. I'm familiar with a similar situation. An analysis of the workload of a department of a large design organization showed that one employee’s productivity was 13%! He spent almost all his free time on fulfilling “left” orders, communicating on social networks and reading news feeds, preferring to solve his problems with someone else’s hands.Alexander Bochkin
General Director of Infomaximum
He doesn't accept responsibility
The mistakes of toxic employees, it seems to them, are always someone else’s fault. They tend to run away from responsibility, expose others, and change the situation.
Moreover, toxic workers are good at manipulating logic. Gradually, this provokes a conflict; conscientious performers get tired of having to correct other people’s mistakes.
Treatment
However, if the state of apathy persists for two or three weeks, and home methods have not brought any relief, they should not be underestimated. In such a situation, it is necessary to consult a doctor. Lack of energy, sadness, and refusal to engage in various activities can be warning signs of many illnesses and may require a quick check at the doctor's office and proper treatment. It is worth listening to your body and catching its “signals”. Immediate medical attention can not only improve your mood and quality of daily functioning, but above all, it can preserve your health or even save your life. And then you will no longer be bothered by the question: “I’m tired of everything, I don’t want anything, what should I do?”
Psychological support in many cases turns out to be one of the most effective ways to combat apathy. Listen to yourself and maintain mental health, and then you will not suffer because you don’t want to do anything.
Herbs
Eating plants such as red pepper, lemongrass or ginger will help you cope with laziness. It is important to remember that they help activate the body, and they should not be consumed at night, because. it may disturb your sleep.
Red hot pepper is endowed with amazing properties: it is very good for health, promotes the digestion of heavy foods, increases potency, activates the brain, in addition, eating it improves mood and positive thinking. Use it as a seasoning for food. However, do not forget that it is contraindicated for those who suffer from intestinal diseases, liver diseases, high acidity in the stomach, diabetes mellitus, ulcers or gastritis.
Schisandra is a vine native to the Far East. Schisandra contains essential oils that smell like lemon. Schisandra acts on the human body as a stimulant, it tones, increases performance, both during physical and mental fatigue.
Infusion of lemongrass fruits: grind 15 g of fruits in a mortar, pour boiling water (300 ml) and cook over low heat (but without boiling) for 15 minutes. Take this infusion 1 tbsp. spoon 2-3 times a day.
You can also brew a tonic, aromatic tea with a pleasant taste from lemongrass leaves. To do this, the leaves must first be crushed, pour boiling water and leave.
Ginger root contains many useful substances: it tones, perfectly helps cope with mental and physical fatigue, increases performance, helps overcome stress and restore strength, improves blood circulation in the brain, which strengthens blood vessels and improves memory and learning.
Ginger tea
You will need: ginger root (from the knuckle of your thumb), a small orange or half a lemon, a pinch of mint. Peel a piece of ginger and grate it until you get a small pinch. Cut the orange (with zest possible) into small slices. Place all ingredients in a teapot and pour boiling water over it. Let the tea steep for 20 minutes.
