How I Keep Going In The Face Of Total Apathy And Anhedonia (Apathyception)

I think part of the main problem is the future of civilization looks grim, so that can be a very demotivating factor

They last only years....

I don't think making sense is high on the priority list of life choices when you are truly apathetic.

Thank you for this message, it’s really helpful. Great practical advice.

I love not caring that I don't care. I can either not care and do nothing or not care and do something. If I'm going to hate life either way, I may as well choose the productive option. In the end, it made me feel better and I got things done - thank you!

Thank you, Genuinely, Thank you

7:01 also another thing that won't last forever is my life sir, and most of it goes to the efforts to restore my mental health

a lot of what |Scott says has no relation to the issues that apathy brings > "structure your actions around the activities which help you to fulfil long term goals" - I know what I ought to do but apathy means I never get started or am even bothered about not doing them.
It's as if any sense of urgency or even time management just disappears - its very close to the ultimate laziness but I believe truly lazy people feel no shame or remorse or regret yet I certainly regret another wasted day.

I will tell you another twist on how to use apathy though: Because you literally don't care, it is a really good time to take risks or do things you might fail at. or say things you need to but usually are too afraid to. Because you don't give a F. It can be a good way to break through or make change.

some people it does not end, also many people are more in a freeze state with the apathy, like physically its almost impossible to physically do things.

I feel you

I just really appreciate this guy's wisdom. He's very fortunate to have learned these principles while still fairly young. Im 62 and have been struggling with these symptoms most of my adult life. Why didn't someone present this decades ago?

I've been through a lot of loss since 2020 to now, and it feels as if I'm in limbo. I've developed apathy as a shield. I didn't cry when I lost folks to COVID, when my dogs died, when I lost family members to ICE, when I went homeless for a year, or when I came to terms with having been abused.

Apathy let me survive but it never taught me how to live. I have ambitions and a bunch of things I want to do but the amount of issues on earth feels too heavy. So heavy that they burden my ambitions. I have some belief that I need to constantly inform myself on how bad the world is and how to fix it everyday, to the point where anything else I do feels like immature indulgence.

I've finally been granted a life situation in which I have the option to relax. I'm not sure what's kept me going, but I think today I'll try to break the autopilot, and relax, let myself feel my emotions fully and prepare for the days where I feel nothing.

Thanks, that makes me feel somewhat better. Actually I think I had a similar idea, where I feel like shit and I don't want to do anything, even looking at my phone and scrolling feels pointless, so I just do my chores around the home and do groceries, and cook. I know that when I feel like that, I won't be able to enjoy anything that usually can be even just a little bit enjoyable, and there's possibility that I will stop liking it after my episode if I do it when I feel that emptiness. So I just do things that I usually don't like because I just don't care what I do but I also can't stand just lying in bed. One thing that you made me realise is that it's something that comes and goes, and it's really stupid that I never actually thought of that. I think it's because it feels like it will last forever and I don't think about it when I feel better. I will try to implement apathyception even more now, more intentionally and consciously. And I'm thinking of just trying to stop thinking about it that I don't care (consciously trying to not think about it when I think about it), maybe I will trick my brain into forgetting about apathy and depression xd

I'm reminded of Morla the Ancient One, the giant tortoise creature in The Neverending Story when it said, "We don't even care whether or not we care."
Yep, that's about where I'm at, where I've been for I don't even know how long. I just keep going, keep doing the things, just existing, feeling numb and burned out and hollow, surviving, not thriving. No, it won't last forever, because I won't last forever. I pray it ends before I do...

Somehow i keep getting back up. Now physical health is crap and its a whole different battle.

Personally I fear apathy as a loss of dopamine - a symptom of Parkinson's disease.

Also - you have a unique, modern-man's attitude towards what (Catholics call) "The Dark Night" - which is the spiritual experience of God "hiding" Himself from us - like a parent playing peek-a-boo - in order to make us "grow up"/ learn how to exist in this world when God is busy doing other things

Scott ❤ i think... Maybe the reason the Lord still sends you episodes of apathy because... He wants you to never lose that connection you have with people who suffer the worst types of depressive symptoms? And also, He has more to teach you - which you can then teach us ❤
And what you said about veggies tasting crap at best of times 🤭 that made me SMILE! Hurray! First smile today 🙂 👍

If you truly not feel anything you can’t act or choose a better thing to do. That is a misleading video.

This was hugely helpful. I had the realization that sometimes I rely too heavily on my feelings. So when I am anhedonic, I spend a lot of time in my head, searching for activities I think will make me feel alive, happy, pleasure. It’s okay not to feel good all the time. Meanwhile, I can do the ish I need to do anyway. ❤

For me the biggest obstacle is the pain I feel both mental and sometimes physical when I make myself do things I dont want to do. Any advice on that?

I'm not going to do anything.
I've stopped eating and drinking and all I do is sleep.

This does not work. It doesn’t. Been doing it for thirty years. It stays a void. You can’t divide by zero man

✨ Hey there! Remember, even the tiniest step forward is still progress 🌱. Take a deep breath, smile 😌, and keep moving — your future self will thank you 💪🌟. You’ve got this! 🚀🔥

If desire is a result of the senses would apathy not be the result of desensitization. Some desensitize sooner than others. Finding ways to reinstall curiosity seems to be the fix to reengaging the senses. Finding ways to reset the timer of desensitization…

Changes of schedule, changes of perception, recontextualization of your environment, the occasional escapism.

I often think the archetypal life of the wanderer resolved a lot of these issues. It’s sad that that’s no longer practical in modern life.

I want to live because I desire to live, not because I’ve tuned myself to light up at the sound of a bell. That behavioral modification through schedule and discipline carried me through the dark times. Needless to say, it is extremely boring.

I want to be close to nature, it’s infinite unfolding of change. The perpetual engine of sensitization. The thing we’ve kept out of our society through concrete boxes in order to stymie people’s insecurities of change itself. The sterilization of the world will ultimately result in the sterilization of the mind.

I really try with these videos but they are so wordy...and kind of drone on...I lose interest quickly which is a bummer

"Don't care that you don't care," this really helped me move forward! Thk u!!

This was helpful to listen to.

Just started with a neurodivergent therapist the last piece in place post late audhd diagnosis. If you read this you’ll saying this in a few places. I am in deep burnout which is different than occupational burnout and it is so confusing to know how to approach this. I don’t ha e anything to compare this too. I know that I will never again be like I was before. I have no idea where my baseline is. Then sleep is a problem and that makes it worse and. I also don’t when to pull back or push a little. On top of that it’s going to change day by day. Now I have to learn how to regulate. I used go to the gym five days a week precovid and now it’s so hard to go and the YMCA is right beside where I live. I have no excuse.

Damn I need help with this. I find zero enjoyment in anything anymore. Not even my life passions of guitar and video games. I can barely concentration more than 10 minutes on a you-tube video. TV and movies are out. The most satisfaction I get is cutting the grass on a warm day.

This is so helpful. As someone with suspected aspd I feel super bored and empty most of the time and I'm terribly irresponsible with my school and work obligations.

Until the day you find out that the action you were taking against your emotions, has become the main cause of your agression and depression and you can no longer go on. I'd been working for over 15 yrs in an industry purely cause it makes the money, totally ignoring my emotions until it escalated entirely.

That apathy toward the apathy is basically me. I'm a little different in that I'm very productive. I have a full time job, a university teaching job, I am caretaker for my mom and have to check in her 5 days a week, and I write a long book series, but I have no happiness, no motivation, no goals, but the flip side is I also feel no tension, no sadness, no frustration in the fact that I don't have time to market or promote my book. I have been to two physicists and they said that's maybe just how you are. But it would be nice to feel something. But I've been this way for 40 years so maybe it is how I am

Im too apathetic to even listen to this guy

Your goals when you’re depressed should center on harm reduction, ie making sure you’re not spending the next six months or more trying to fix the things you neglected once the depression lifts. You might not feel like it will now, but it will.

Forget about feeling good, at peace or happy, that’s not even on the radar. You just need to try to ignore your negative thoughts and stay focused on checking things off on your to do list.

It sucks to isolate and lay in bed and do nothing and it also sucks to keep up with chores and responsibilities, so you might as well practice harm reduction and prevention. Picture what you will be doing when you feel better again and start doing those things now, today.

It doesn’t matter if it’s 2 pm and you just woke up. Write a do list and check things off. Do those things even though it’s not rewarding, fun or enjoyable. You’re essentially choosing between evils, so you might as well choose the lesser of the two.

Even if you’re only able to work on 30% capacity, it’s still better than completely neglecting your life. Harm reduction is the goal, not happiness.

have been like for 2 years now....couldn't pull myself to even attend school i have a attendance of less than 10%....i would just stay in my room...would never go out had zero friends. no one texted me...no talks, no people. lonely.

"Shut us down completely" thats what Scott wanted

Nonsense

Ive felt this way since i can remember
I don't remember not feeling like this