Is it possible to not care about anything

I care that I don't care, but not enough, I suppose. And about the low energy, I know that exercise would help, but I don't do it. Disclaimer Dr. Schwartz responds to questions about psychotherapy and mental health problems, from the perspective of his training in clinical psychology.

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Always consult with your psychotherapist, physician, or psychiatrist first before changing any aspect of your treatment regimen. Do not stop your medication or change the dose of your medication without first consulting with your physician. Our Affiliates. Depression Article References. An Interview with Daniel Strunk, Ph.

Goldberg Depression Questionnaire. What Is Wrong With Me? Please Help. Is Any of This Real? What is This, and What do I do About it? Why am I so Miserable? Bipolar or Depressed or Neither? When you start to lose interest in life , and your friends and family begin to notice, "words of wisdom" come from everywhere. That's nice and all, but do they actually apply to your life? Are these people walking in your shoes, feeling what you're feeling?

Friends tell you one thing. Parents tell you another. Sometimes the words hit home, but other times they fall flat on the ground and begin to stink up the place like a dead fish. And, of course, depression is serious. The collection of depression symptoms that have been categorized and thoroughly fleshed out describe a phenomenon that many, many people in this world have. That's what it felt like for me. For years, from to , I went through long periods of time when I didn't care about anything.

According to WebMD:. Yes, it's your body responding to how you're feeling, but it's also your body sending signals back to your mind, which affects your next set of actions. Both types of anhedonia can take over your life, and both types can play off one another to make it so you just don't care about anything or anyone. But knowing what's going on when you just don't care anymore--and having the words to describe what's going on--is only the first step.

If you've been feeling this way for a long time, it's likely going to take some time to get you out of the rut. I'm living proof of that, and I've worked and talked with many people who've done the same thing. Like anything in life, following what I'm about to share is not a guarantee, but it's rooted in timeless principles, in wisdom that is freely available to all.

When you're drowning in stress and apathy, it's often enough to just have some kind of game plan. When you first realize you don't care about anything, it can be hard to even pinpoint what exactly is going on. Use the above anhedonia categories as your guide.

What are you feeling physically? What are you feeling socially? Say it out loud. Write it down. Tell a friend. Just getting the symptoms down often provides ideas that you couldn't see when you were just going through the motions. Sometimes, it's not about outward symptoms. Sometimes it's about the inward pressure of major stressors. Have you been dealing with something major lately? Is there, I don't know, a worldwide pandemic going on? And I'm not just talking about current stressors.

If you've survived trauma, such as emotional or physical abuse in your past, then that's something that you need to consider. So, on your piece of paper, write down 10 things that you have enjoyed doing in the past. Things that brought you pleasure, happiness, joy — all the warm fuzzies. Think about stuff you actually did that made you laugh, that you have great memories of! No matter how little you can feel right now, you have definitely felt good at some point in life — even inside the house.

This is how I rated my activities:. Next, think about how difficult the activity is for you to do — like how much effort, time, planning goes into actually doing it. See my list below. In contrast to how much pleasure these activities used to bring you, you can also see how difficult they are to do. Now comes the fun part — okay, maybe more introspection than fun. Last step! In this part of the exercise, you want to find the tradeoff between your enjoyment and the effort required to do each thing.

To do this, subtract minus the effort rating from the enjoyment rating. For example, on the activity of reading a book, my enjoyment rating is 5 and my effort rating is 2. Depression is an ugly thing. It swallows up your joy, erodes your happiness, and deprives you of the ability to feel the full spectrum of your emotions.

Depression smothers everything that it touches, both positive and negative. People tend to focus on the positives because they are bright, shiny, and feel good. But even the absence of negative emotions can be a bitter loss. People are terrible to each other. The planet is dying. Life can be challenging, painful, and brutally difficult, but there are so many things worth caring about. Hidden in all of the pain, tragedy, and ridiculousness of life are bright and brilliant things worth looking for.

But you have to care to look for them. The issue with depression and much of the advice you will find surrounding it on the internet is that many different things can cause it. It can be a side effect of a medication or an illness caused by temporary or permanent circumstances in your life, genetics, trauma, grief, or the general state of your life.

It may also be created and made worse through substance abuse and alcoholism. The key to unraveling this problem is to figure out where that problem is coming from in the first place. That will likely require a certified mental health professional who can help you dig through your mind, life, and history to find the culprit. Unresolved trauma is a significant source of depression and substance abuse for people.