Darkness of consciousness and complete apathy towards life - what to do?

What is this in psychology?

Indifference is a psychological state in which an object or series of objects does not evoke any feelings or emotions.

It can be personalized or a general condition of the body.

In the first case, we are talking about indifference to a specific person or event (to husband/wife, parents/children, incidents at work, etc.). In the second - about mood, a temporary emotional state when absolutely everything ceases to excite and matter.

From a psychological point of view, indifference is the body’s defensive reaction to a problem that has arisen. When a person cannot cope with an incident, the indifference program “turns on.”

Its task is to create a temporary buffer during which energy and internal strength will be replenished. This eliminates the possibility of nervous exhaustion and the development of diseases.

Indifference and indifference - is there a difference? In everyday speech, both words have a similar meaning; they can be called synonyms .

But if you dig deeper, indifference has some negative connotations. While indifference is closer to the concept of a simple calm mood.

What is indifference and indifference?

An indifferent attitude towards the problems, troubles and experiences of other people, avoidance of helping one’s neighbor is a common occurrence. In the dictionary, this concept is interpreted as a lack of interest in life, people, oneself and the world around us. Indifference can be an individual characteristic, a character trait, or a condition that is caused by extraneous factors. But in every manifestation, an indifferent attitude is destructive and dangerous both for the indifferent person himself, and for those with whom he communicates or may meet by chance.

Such individuals try to distance themselves from any problems that do not concern them. This is their conscious choice, and an indifferent person has his own reasons that push him to actions that contradict moral laws. But regardless of the reasons, everyone is responsible for the fact that detachment from the problems that concern other people covers increasingly large sections of modern society.

Causes of the condition

Why don’t you want to do anything and complete indifference?

Indifference to everything differs from private forms of this feeling, when you don’t care about something specific.

A state in which one does not want to do anything is called apathy .

It can develop into chronic fatigue, accompanied by regular impotence, a negative attitude, and a gloomy outlook on things and events in life.

Reasons why everything around can depreciate and become indifferent:

1. Severe stress that unsettles you. Tragic incidents affecting the psychological state. Unexpected troubles and grief for which a person was not prepared have a particularly powerful effect. For example, the loss of a loved one, a fatal illness, separation from a spouse.
   The degree of destructiveness of circumstances depends on the ability of the individual’s psyche to resist attacks and stress.

   Someone may be seriously devastated by being fired, while another person will easily start looking for a new job and will have virtually no regrets or worries about what happened.

2. Mild but regular stress. A classic example: conflicts in the workplace. They do not reach serious altercations, but due to constant daily pressure, the tension accumulates and gradually breaks the person. At one moment, when the cup of patience is overflowing, a person may explode with a seemingly minor adversity.
3. Crisis of meanings and goals in life . Occurs in different situations. It happens that a person becomes disappointed in the values ​​he had. He achieves his goal and realizes that he was mistaken on the way to it. In other cases, there are no values ​​or principles at all. One day you realize that you are floating with the flow and have nothing to cling to. There are no specific desires, goals, or interests. That's why life seems like a meaningless existence.
4. Professional burnout.
   A feeling familiar to representatives of those professions that require a lot of emotional investment. These are artists, actors, managers, psychologists. And also, all those who have to communicate regularly and help solve other people’s problems. The list includes creative professions that not only take up a lot of time, but also require enormous creative and intellectual efforts: writers, directors, artists, designers, programmers.
5. Diseases . The cause of apathy may be a banal disease or undertreatment. This also includes difficult recovery after a long illness, which took a lot of strength.
6. Postpartum depression. For women, serious negative changes in mood can occur after the birth of a child or during pregnancy.
7. Physical fatigue . May be associated with constant hard work at work. There may be a lack of balance between the energy received and the energy expended - lack of nutrition, sleep, vitamins.
8. Decline in mood after joyful moments . For example, after the New Year, birthday and other holidays. Life returns to normal, the cheerful atmosphere disappears. As a result, a feeling of slight nostalgia and missing the holiday can develop into apathy.

How to become indifferent to everything?

What do you call a person who doesn't care about anything? In cultural conversation, people usually settle for the term indifference .

This type includes people who, at first glance, are completely indifferent to others and overcome any problems with ease, without much stress.

Indifference, which is in fact one of the methods of psychological defense, seems attractive to many . Examples of strong people, “cool” movie characters, demonstrate the ability to move through life indifferently.

But in reality, for a healthy person from the point of view of psychiatry, it is impossible to achieve absolute indifference.

But you can adjust what you need to worry about.

1. Decide on values. These are the things you may worry about. What is truly meaningful to you. For example, a career or a stamp collection, a relationship with a certain person. The fewer values, the better. When you worry about what really matters, you stop paying attention to unnecessary noise and pseudo-values.
2. Fake values. They need to be weeded out. Most often, these include what does not belong to you and what you cannot control: for example, material things (the desire for consumption, shopping). When you determine what is most important, unnecessary junk will be clearly visible. Trifles of no strategic importance should not bother you.

By removing things from your life that are not worth worrying about, you will become freer and psychologically whole. The fewer events that cause anxiety, the more measured and easier life becomes.

Indifference is the highest cruelty

Unfortunately, there are more and more indifferent people in our society. They think only about themselves and are not interested in other people's problems. Such people do not think about the fact that their actions could help another person.

Indifferent people can, without thinking, leave their neighbor in trouble. All this leads to the conclusion that indifference is the highest cruelty. It turns a person into an animal who is used to living alone, caring only about himself.

For indifferent people there are no social values; they do not know what love and friendship, compassion and mercy are. This indicates the degree of moral corruption of a person.

Indifferent people are the most evil people because they are not interested in anything in life except their own self. Good and even evil actions towards other people show that a person lives, and does not just exist, he knows how to feel and express his emotions.

Indifference presupposes the absence of any feelings. It follows that indifference is much worse than atrocities.

First argument

The theme of indifference is heard very often in Russian and world literature. For example, N.V. Gogol in the story “ The Overcoat ” depicted an indifferent society that does not care about the “little man” Akaki Akakievich Bashmachkin.

The main character's overcoat is stolen, which he dreamed of for so long that he even saved on his own food for several months. The people around were indifferent to this event. Neither colleagues nor the authorities involved in thefts began to help Bashmachkin.

The protagonist's inability to live in an indifferent society leads to Bashmachkin dying. This proves why indifference is cruelty. It was indifference that caused the death of Akaki Akakievich.

Second argument

H.H. Andersen also wrote on the topic of indifference. In his fairy tale “The Little Match Girl,” he showed what public indifference can lead to. A little barefoot girl was selling matches on New Year's Day. This was required by the difficult situation of the heroine: she was very poor.

None of the passers-by were interested in why the little girl was walking barefoot in the cold winter. Nobody paid attention to her. No one wanted to at least somehow help the poor heroine.

This indifference caused the death of the girl. Neither the cold evening nor the heroine’s poverty caused her death. The reason lies in human indifference, which can be worse than cruelty.

conclusions

The above examples prove that indifference is the worst thing that every person can face. When those around you are not interested in the lives of other people, when no one is able to help a person who is in a difficult situation, this is a real disaster.

Indifference in relationships

A separate, private type of indifference is in relationships between people. Here there are unique reasons for indifference, and, consequently, other advice for solving the problem.

Signs

In men

How to understand that a guy is indifferent to you?

1. Entertaining . The guy refers to cases, but most often without indicating a specific reason. At the same time, he is “not sure” when, in principle, he will be able to be free for the meeting.
2. Sluggishness in communication. He does not show initiative in conversation and does not ask clarifying questions. He himself gives monosyllabic answers. In general, not interested in communication.
3. Delay in messages. Another marker is when a young person responds on social networks after several hours. Especially if you are sitting online and cannot help but see the message sent.
4. Talk about other women. If a man actively discusses and evaluates other girls when communicating, it means that he views the girl as a friend and does not plan a close relationship.

How to understand that a man is not indifferent to you?

1. Invitation to a date. Men tend to show interest directly.
   This could be an offer to meet, chat, or take a walk. It is not a fact that a man will literally say “I invite you on a date.” The essence itself is important - the desire to meet in private, in order to get to know the girl better.
2. Presence nearby. If a man tries to stay nearby and initiate communication, he may be interested in developing a relationship. Situations in which it doesn’t make much sense for a man to revolve around a girl’s sphere of interests are clearly visible. For example, she is interested in swimming, and the young man is cold to the sport, but suddenly begins to visit the pool and regularly meet with the girl.
3. Sight . If a man's eyes are fixed on a girl, this is a clear signal of sympathy. The conversation is not about the usual appreciation of beauty, but about involvement and attentiveness in the conversation. If a man is focused on a girl, visually distinguishes her from others and tries to establish eye contact, there is obvious interest.
4. Help . A man can see for himself that you need help and offer to solve the problem. This initiative is aimed at demonstrating his reliability in terms of character.