Avolition: characteristics, causes and treatment of this alteration

It is normal when we are faced with an unpleasant task, to procrastinate its completion. However, when we talk about avolition, the habit of procrastination is much more significant.

Avolition refers to the complete lack of motivation that makes it difficult or impossible to complete any task. People with this condition cannot cope with even the smallest daily chores; actions such as washing the dishes or going to the supermarket could present a difficulty comparable to that of climbing a mountain of several thousand meters.

This phenomenon drastically affects the lives of those who suffer from it. It makes them feel unmotivated to take care of themselves or their homes. In addition, it can significantly interfere with relationships with friends and family.

Finding the right medication for schizophrenia-derived avolition is complex; several different therapies may need to be tried before one is found that works. In this article we will talk about avolition, its causes, its symptoms and how to manage it .

What is avolition?

The term avolition is used to refer to a lack of motivation or an inability to undertake tasks or perform activities that have an ultimate goal . These are diverse and can include shopping, paying bills or attending an event.

In 2006, avolition was identified as a negative symptom of schizophrenia, it also manifests in patients with bipolar disorder or as a result of trauma.

People with schizophrenia usually present symptoms classified as positive and negative. However, it should be made clear that the terms positive and negative in psychiatry do not indicate either good or bad. Instead, they indicate the loss of something previously present, such as a lost ability, or the presence of something new to the case.

Among the positive symptoms experienced by patients with schizophrenia; This includes behaviors that are not regularly seen in people without the disease, such as: hallucinations, disorganized speech, and delusions. However, before these symptoms appear, many people with schizophrenia experience negative symptoms.

The term "avolition" refers to a symptom of negative schizophrenia, which encompasses different manifestations . Avolition refers to the progressive loss of the abilities to do things or experience them that some schizophrenic patients present. These manifestations include the inability to attend to personal hygiene, or participate in work or leisure activities, including completing a basic conversation.

These are behaviors that are present in other psychiatric disorders, but are not usually seen in people who do not have schizophrenia.

Although some people confuse avolition with laziness, laziness can be attributed to someone who does not have a mental disorder. People with avolition are unable to act due to their condition . It could be said that the inability to act resembles being paralyzed by apathy, affected people cannot anticipate the rewards of completing a task.

Causes of avolition

At the University of New York, an experiment was carried out with schizophrenic patients and a control group that included a reward system in relation to the physical effort made. The results indicated that people with avolition are unwilling to participate in physical activities, even when offered a reward . The study also indicated significant problems with motivation related to the effort-reward cutoff.

Although avolition is primarily observed behaviorally, poor connectivity of brain regions of individuals with abolition has been found compared to other symptoms, such as impaired pleasure. A recent study showed that abolition can be revealed through neuroscience: it found that symptoms of apathy were associated with motivation-related circuits in brain regions.

Effects of abolition on mind and behavior

The abolition and inability of motivation can cause a person to lose interest in daily activities, even withdrawing from social contact. Oftentimes, afflicted individuals may also experience little or no pleasure in life. Your emotions may go numb and conversations may lack connection.

Abolition affects all areas of life, including school, work, family and personal relationships . Some examples may include: lack of eye contact, difficulty starting and finishing projects, missing important appointments, skipping activities or participating in events, disjointed conversations, etc.

Abolition is sometimes mistaken for other conditions that also impair motivational capacity, such as abulia, anhedonia, and asociality. Due to its similarities to depression, abolition is often confused with it as well. However, it is important to note that people with abolition do not avoid activities, literally lack of motivation prevents them from acting. Abolition is generally best identified in someone who also has positive symptoms of schizophrenia, as these are more differentiating.

People with abolition may not be aware that most symptoms are occurring. A close friend or family member may need to alert them to the problem.

Related symptoms

Abolition shares similarities with and overlaps with other negative symptoms . Psychiatrists and mental health professionals often conflate all of these symptoms into one, since they occur together. The symptoms that we explain below are closely interrelated, which makes it easy to understand why they occur at the same time as the abolition.

1. Anhedonia

Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure or experience joy or pleasure , which is often related to the passive attitude that some people with mental health problems adopt.

2. Emotional numbing

Flattening occurs when a person is unable to express or show emotion. This can be seen in their body language or the way they speak.

3. Alogia

It refers to the problems with communicating or staying involved in a conversation that some people have . It often involves not asking or answering questions. People with alogia have difficulty forming thoughts and following conversations that frequently change the subject.

4. Attention deficit

People with schizophrenia often have trouble sustaining attention and concentration. They may have difficulty filtering out external noises or stimuli. Also, some people with schizophrenia have trouble remembering things.

5. Anosognosia

It is used to name the lack of awareness or perception that a person has about their mental condition . At least half of people with schizophrenia don't realize they have an illness; this is one of the reasons they don't take their medications. Anosognosia is also one of the main reasons why many patients with mental illness do not seek treatment.

Abolition and schizophrenia

Abolition is seen in both schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, as well as neurological disorders. It is one of the most common negative symptoms experienced by schizophrenic patients .

The exact cause of schizophrenia is not known, it probably involves factors such as genetics, brain development, the amount of chemicals such as neurotransmitters and complications during pregnancy. It is also unknown why some patients diagnosed with schizophrenia experience negative symptoms such as withdrawal.

About a quarter of people diagnosed with schizophrenia have a deficit syndrome. This syndrome can be diagnosed when a person presents two or more negative symptoms for more than 12 months and is not accompanied by other significant clinical symptoms of the disease.

Although the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations, may seem more worrying. The negative symptoms of the disease are more difficult to treat and can have a greater impact on the functional capacity of the patient. This is because the positive symptoms of the disorder, such as delusions and hallucinations, seem more alarming.

Abolition Treatment

There is no universally accepted method of treating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. However, these are more difficult to treat than the positive symptoms. In general, treatment, as in most disorders, requires a combination of pharmacological treatment and therapy.

It is crucial to start treatment as soon as possible: it can take several weeks for the drugs to take full effect.

Pharmacotherapy

Correcting chemical levels in the brain through neurotransmitters is thought to be why antipsychotic medications are effective in treating symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions.

The majority of patients obtain positive results thanks to antipsychotics. However, some of these drugs can cause additional negative symptoms such as withdrawal. Patients taking antipsychotics are often also taking antidepressants.

Many people have decreased psychological side effects with newer antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone and clozapine . However, these medications can cause high blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

psychological therapy

To perform daily activities, people often need to acquire specific skills to overcome a lack of intrinsic motivation. Consequently, cognitive behavioral therapy and cognitive enhancement therapy may be highly recommended; In this context , the person is helped to manage their feelings, thoughts and behavior patterns .