the lack of will to live

As a result of serious trauma, people may feel so desperate that they can not see anything. In the face of ultimate defeat, some people may die because they can not muster the strength and motivation to continue living. In a new study, Dr. John Leach, a principal investigator at Portsmouth University, has now described the five steps that a person with "dropout" experiences before dying.

"The term" give up "describes people who respond to traumatic stress by developing extreme apathy, giving up hope, giving up living and dying despite no obvious organic cause," Leach writes in the review. Medical assumptions.

Abandonment, or psychogenic death, as it is called medically, has five stages.

1. Social withdrawal. At first, a person undergoing psychological trauma will choose to stay away from other people and social activities. Social withdrawal is accompanied by a lack of emotion, indifference and self-absorption.

According to Leach, withdrawal is a kind of coping mechanism that helps the traumatized person pause to regain their emotional stability. However, if nothing has been done, withdrawal may progress to the second stage of psychogenic death.

2. Apathy. Prisoners of war or shipwrecked people have often been struck by a demoralizing melancholy that some have described as no longer seeking to preserve themselves. During this stage, people will stop taking care of themselves, becoming disordered. Even the smallest task will be a colossal effort.

3. Aboulia. People in this lethargic phase speak very little, give up washing or eating frequently and withdrawing more deeply to themselves.

Passive behavior, few and disinterested social interactions, late reaction to interactions and emotions, and lack of desire to move or maintain movement are some of the symptoms of this disorder.

"An interesting thing about the aboulia is that there seems to be an empty mind or a consciousness without content. People at this stage who have recovered describe it as having a spirit like a puff, or having no thought. In Aboulia, the spirit is on hold and one person has lost motivation for goal-oriented behavior, "said Dr. Leach, whose career focused on the psychology of survival.

4. Psychic Akinesia. This step shows a deeper and deeper motivation. The person is plunged into a state of apathy so deep that it becomes even insensitive to pain. Leach's article presents a case study of a woman who suffered second-degree burns at the beach simply because she was not motivated enough to escape the sun. The fourth step usually takes 3 to 4 days to move to stage 5 (death).

5. Psychogenic death. At this point, the person's will to live has completely disappeared, leading to disintegration.

"That's when someone abandons it. They could be lying in their own droppings and nothing – no warning, no beating, no advocacy can make them want to live, "said Leach.

The psychologist wrote that prisoners in Nazi concentration camps were often known to be close to death by their prison mates when they took out a hidden cigarette for smoking. Cigarettes were valuable goods that could be exchanged for food and other valuable goods.

"When a prisoner took a cigarette and lit it, his campmates knew that the person had really given up, that she had lost confidence in their ability to continue and would soon be dead," Leach said. .

Ironically, gestures such as cigarette lighting by the prisoner of the concentration camp can be considered encouraging. However, it does not last long.

"This appears briefly as if the" empty mind "step was passed and replaced by what could be described as goal-oriented behavior. But the paradox is that even though goal-oriented behavior often occurs, the goal itself seems to have become a reality, "Leach added.

The study suggests that this strange condition could be triggered by modifications of the anterior cingulate circuit, responsible for motivation and purpose.-directed behaviours. Serious trauma can cause this circuit to malfunction.

Psychogenic death is not inevitable. Those who suffer from "Give up-itis" can be pilotedat the right way through different things at every step. Physical activity and reframing a situation so that the person feels back into control are among the most common and effective methods to reverse the situation.

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