abulia

Establishing the etymological origin of the term abulia leads us to go to Greek and that is where we find the word from which it comes: abulia. An east word that is made up of three clearly differentiated parts: the prefix to- which is equivalent to “without”, the word boilé which is synonymous with "will" and finally the suffix -ia which can be translated as "quality or action".

According to what is expressed in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the abulia is the unwillingness wave noticeable decrease in energy. It is a alteration in the preliminary phase of voluntary activity, where the desire or decision to carry out an action is disturbed.

Apathy implies a lack of interest that translates into a lack of activity and absence of emotional responses. In common language, it could be said that apathy is the lack of desire to do things or the feeling of wanting and not being able due to lack of strength.

When a person suffers from apathy, experiences a deterioration of the will to act, which is reflected as indecision and in a feeling of impotence. The affected person feels apathy and indifference for those issues that previously gave him satisfaction.

But not only that. Other clear symptoms that someone suffers from apathy are: absolute passivity, the lack of any kind of spontaneous movement or the fact that they have carried out a palpable reduction in the time they devoted to their hobbies or pastimes, to their social relationships or Spontaneity.

A concrete example of abulia is that case where an individual feels that any other day will be better than today; therefore, he simply waits for the arrival of that day and in the meantime he does not make any decisions or take any action. The person feels that, in case of acting, then may regret since at another time you may be in better conditions to make the decision or specify your action.

The psychology states that apathy can be a symptom of mental illnesses such as depression, the schizophrenia, the Bipolar disorder and the dysthymia. It can even appear as a consequence of a brain disorder produced by a accident or for a infection (as the syphilis).

Dysthymia, previously mentioned, is also known as dysthymic disorder and is characterized by being a chronic affective disorder that brings with it that the person who suffers not only feels sad, lonely or melancholic but also with very low self-esteem. Of genetic origin, it seems that it is one that can also be accentuated by lack of stimuli or even by an absolute uprooting.

Insomnia, lack of appetite, social phobia, unexplained tiredness, pessimism, memory problems or inability to concentrate and make decisions are some of the symptoms that make it clear that someone suffers from dysthymia and as a consequence also apathy.

The use of medications is the most common treatment used to treat this affective disorder that is also addressed through psychotherapies.