Reflections on a Quarter-life Crisis

A New Epidemic

Apathy: The Epidemic

Symptoms & Signs

Hypointeresosis, more commonly known as apathy, is the third largest killer of the American spirit, second only to physical death and jadedness. Its symptoms include tardiness, inconsistency, undependability, wishy-washyness, predictability, and indigestion. Its onset tends to be around the age of entering sophomore year of college and, without treatment, can continue until old age and cause premature death.

Apathy has the best treatment outcomes when identified early. These early indicators, however, can be hard to notice as they often occur in groups of people and are commonly mistaken for routines or ruts. Those that have a high resistance to the disease are a clinician's best tool in identifying the disease early. One can notice the rise in the prevalence of apathy by decreased attendance to meaningful events and sloppy appearance. The caregiver that identifies this symptom must be quite perceptive as its beginnings lead the observer to believe that the victim is aware of and cares about the world around them but the disease surfaces when plans fade and the spark of enthusiasm has fizzled. The same symptom can be identified in a person who has lived with the disease for many years with statements such as "When I was your age, I wanted to become a lawyer and travel the world saving lives; now I am the manager at the Athlete's Foot." In terms of overall populations, a caregiver notices the increase in apathy by excessive e-mails canceling events due to lack of participation and little attendance in any event that doesn't involve alcohol or the possibility of earning money.

Causes

The causes of apathy are completely unknown and continue to be a medical mystery that has been around since the dawn of modern politics. Many psychologists have attempted to pin the cause of hypointeresopathosis but never finished their research. Some theories include lack of stimulation and activities in cities and not enough work to do while in college.

While the causes of Apathy are unknown, it is the root of many other diseases which include but are not limited to alcoholism, infidelity, dissociative identity disorder, violence, compulsive shopping, depression, and ignorance.

Trends

Epidemics show little discrepancies within populations but gaping disparities between nations. While the developing nations show a drastically lower prevalence of apathy, the United States has the lowest occurrence among the industrialized countries. This protective factor has been attributed to the youth of the nation and the omnipresent American dream. Each year, however, the incidence of Apathy increases, closing the gap between the US and other developed countries.

Apathy is the disease of the modern world. Because of its anonymity, its victims get very little recognition. Society lets Apathy spread - there is no anti-apathy week, no education on how to protect one's self from apathy. No parent warns their child of the evils of apathy when entering college or a new job. There is no Alliance to Stop Apathy. President Obama will not launch a war against Apathy.

The plague is nearly invisible as it narrows its victims' minds and stamps out free thought and the courage to help people. The disease is usually caught too late as it chips away its victims' enthusiasm and vigor.

Ignorance is often mistaken for apathy but is quite different in the way it effects the individual. Ignorance has the potential to at least cause outrage while Apathy sits stalely behind the patients' eyes and on the top of their mouths. One of the most common co-morbidities of Apathy are boredom and increased gambling urges.

Treatment

Many Apathetics try to self-treat by changing life circumstances which has been proven to provide temporary relief. Bored and 30? Why not try an extramarital affair? Nothing to do at the age of 20? Keg party is the way to go. Spiritless at 40? Time to buy a Jaguar. Restless at 15? Time to steal a Jaguar.

Other self treatment attempts are available, some more costly than others, but show very little consistency in plans, especially among the younger generations. If patients show retention to treatment, however, recovery has a 100% success rate. These treatments include reading, writing, community service, dancing, knitting, horseback riding, music, traveling, swimming, figure skating, running, painting, scrap-booking, cooking, watching theater, opera, singing, research, conversation, woodworking, pottery, surfing, sewing, politics, playing sports, people watching, joining clubs, training, gaming, cleaning, designing, sketching, auctions, touring, strolling, karate, hiking, poetry, baking, skiing, and more.

The advance treatment of apathy involves 3 basic steps to recovery. The first and hardest step towards the cure is acknowledging the existence of the disease. After this difficult task, the patient must stop to feel the apathy instead of running; this way they can attempt to fill the gaping void where their dreams used to be. Soon enough they will be disgusted at themselves for being bored, disgusted at the world for not caring, and disgusted at the atrocities and travesties that are occurring every moment but have been too jaded and apathetic to notice before. Once this is realized, relapse is extremely rare.

Conclusions

Apathy is like the persistent dust of New Delhi; You can try all you want to protect yourself from it but you cannot escape the eventual build-up throughout the day. You breathe it in, talk with its victims, eat it in your food, watch it float in your water all the while not realizing the layers and layers that you have accumulated. You cannot notice it until you cleanse yourself from the pollutants, watching the gritty swirl of gray and brown disappear down the bathtub drain.

The incidence and prevalence of apathy has been increasing exponentially throughout the decades and will cause the demise of the developed world if not somehow eradicated. It has the possibility of causing a deficit in leadership, free thought, and morality. There is no vaccine, there is no known cause, and there are plenty of treatments. The disease is a complete mystery that has no explainable reason for existence.

Right now, the biggest threat Apathy poses is not to the individual and their role as a citizen, but to the developed society as a whole. As Apathy grows with each generation and each passing year, it poses the threat of causing a societal paradigm shift to believing that those that do not have the disease - those that care and are aware - are seen as the overachievers. The disease's rise has already begun to change perspectives of many citizens into believing that apathy is normal, that it is alright. Apathy is not alright.

Thank You for Thinking.