Apathy is a lack of motivation or interest, with a neutral mood and a sense of indifference. This tends to be seen as lack of effort or productivity and a dependence on others to structure activities. There is often also a lack of concern about oneself, and an indifferent response to events that would usually cause emotion, such as receiving bad news.
Often it is those around the person,
such as family or carer, who seem to recognise the listless state and they too
may develop negative attitudes and feelings.
In contrast to depression, apathy displays a notable absence of sadness and depressed mood – there is a lack of emotion, either happy or sad.
