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Transcript

Parkinson’s Apathy vs Depression: Why Doctors Get It Wrong (And How to Fix It) · Living with Parkinson’s | Bryce Perry

• 0:00
  With Parkinson's, this happens all the time.
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  You try to explain to your doctor, I have no motivation,
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  I'm not starting anything. Everything just feels flat.
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  And before you can even finish the sentence, they'll say
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  something like, Yep, that sounds like depression.
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  But what if they're wrong? Because with Parkinson's,
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  there's something else, something totally different that
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  looks like depression. It acts like depression, but it
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  isn't depression at all. It's apathy.
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  And when doctors mix the two up, you end up treating the wrong
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  problem entirely. And that's exactly what we're
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  going to break down today. I'm going to show you how to
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  tell the difference for yourself, the signs you should
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  that you should look for, and the tools that actually help
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  apathy, not make it worse. Plus, I'll give you the exact
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  words to use with your neurologist so you finally get
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  the right treatment and stick around until the very end.
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  Because today's Bryce ISM is the one thing that I now say at
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  every appointment to make sure my doctor never confuses apathy
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  and depression. Welcome to Living with
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  Parkinson's, The Good, the Bad, and the Reality.
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  Real talk, real life, real community with Bryce Perry.
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  Let's begin. Well, welcome back to the
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  channel and thank you to everyone who returns week after
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  week. And if you're new here, my name
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  is Bryce and this is living with Parkinson's, the good, the bad
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  and the reality. And around here, we're all about
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  hope, honesty, and real life tools for navigating
• 1:34
  Parkinson's. And if that sounds like
• 1:36
  something you need, hit subscribe to stay connected and
• 1:39
  join the community. So today we're going to talk
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  about Parkinson's and apathy versus depression and why
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  doctors so often get it wrong and it's so important.
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  So let's just jump right into it.
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  And let's start with the big question.
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  Why do doctors misread apathy as depression in the 1st place?
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  Well, because on the surface, they look almost identical.
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  They both carry low motivation, right?
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  They both have low interest fatigue, that flat effect.
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  And most doctors see those words and automatically think
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  depression. But here's where the path split.
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  You see, depression is emotional.
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  It's heavy, it hurts. There's sadness, hopelessness,
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  emotional pain. But apathy is neurological.
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  It's not sadness. It's more like someone unplugged
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  the spark inside you. So here's how I explain it.
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  If depression feels like sinking in deep water, apathy feels like
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  you're just floating there, not moving, not sinking and not
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  feeling much of anything. So let me tell you a quick story
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  that made the difference for me and really made it clear on what
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  the difference was. So there was a morning where
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  Carmen looked at me and she just said, and she said, are you
• 3:02
  upset with me? Because you seem very distant.
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  I remember saying like, no, I'm not.
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  I'm not trying to be distant at all.
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  I'm not sad, I'm not angry. I just I don't feel anything.
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  And that's the day I realized that this wasn't depression I
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  was dealing with, it was apathy. So if you've had a moment like
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  that, let me know in the comments makes it will make a
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  huge difference to people watching and everybody's looking
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  at the comments. OK, now that we know the
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  difference between apathy and depression, let's make it even
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  clearer. All right, here are 5 signs that
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  what you're experiencing might be apathy and not depression.
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  And as I go through these, drop a number in the comments for
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  which one fits you. OK, number one, you're not sad,
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  you're just blank. Like, not emotional pain, just
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  complete silence. It's apathy #2 you want to do
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  things, but you just can't get yourself to start.
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  Depression kills desire, but it's apathy that kills
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  initiation. So if you can't get started,
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  that's an apathy problem #3 your joy isn't gone, your energy to
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  begin is 4. It gets worse when your Mens
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  wear off, and that's a dopamine's fingerprint right
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  there. Number 5 other people, other
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  people notice before you do. Apathy is sneaky, and it's
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  sneaky from the inside. So the big question is why does
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  this happen with Parkinson's in the 1st place?
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  Well, let me break that down for you.
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  This is the science made simple, OK?
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  It's like the brain side of this in plain English.
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  But dopamine is your go juice, right?
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  It's your internal go juice. It starts movement, it starts
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  speech, motivation and initiative, OK?
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  And when your dopamine levels dip, your ability to start
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  things dips with it. I like to think of it as like a
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  lamp with a loose cord. Sometimes the light, the light
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  goes bright and it goes on great.
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  Sometimes it flickers, and sometimes it just shuts off
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  completely. Meanwhile, the serotonin system,
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  the one involved with depression, can be totally
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  normal. Which means antidepressants
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  won't fix apathy. They're repairing the wrong
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  wiring. Now if that analogy makes sense
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  to you, tell me about it. If not, I can try it another
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  way. But now let's switch gears and
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  talk about what do we do if you're navigating this alone.
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  So here is a very quick solo spotlight for all of those that
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  are doing this journey without a care person or care partner with
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  them. So number one is the one thing
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  only rule. So don't give yourself a list.
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  Don't give. Just give yourself one tiny
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  thing to start your engine. Walk for three minutes or put on
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  socks. Take meds, that's enough.
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  Second way is visual activation. Let your environment cue the
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  action. Shoes by the bed, water bottle
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  on the counter, meds beside on the coffee table or the side
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  table. You're building yourself a
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  support system that you can see. Also common accountability.
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  So just post here. Just post here.
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  I'm here and I'm doing this solo.
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  Someone will reply and that breaks Apathy's silence and in
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  the comments. Let me know which one you want
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  to try this week. Now here's where things get
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  encouraging. Apathy does improve when you
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  target the right thing. OK, so #1 we're going to target
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  dopamine optimization. So adjust timings, adjust the
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  dose, track your patterns and bring them to a neurologist.
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  The tracker becomes your evidence #2 Another way is micro
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  wins. Apathy hates big goals but loves
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  little ones. One small win leads to another
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  leads to another leads to another #3 external, external
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  structure, timers, routines, reminders.
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  Think of them as like rented motivation.
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  Now, on that note, let me tell you another story.
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  This real moment that made such a difference for me.
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  And I call it like the frozen afternoon, right There was a day
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  when I sat in a chair for almost 2 hours.
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  Not sad, not tired, just kind of stuck.
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  Carmen walked by and she said, hey, try standing up and sitting
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  down once in a while. And that tiny little thing broke
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  the freeze. And it reminded me that apathy
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  doesn't need a big solution. It just needs a spark.
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  So if you've ever had one of those frozen moments, comment
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  frozen so people know that they're not alone.
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  OK, Speaking of Carmen, let's hear from her side of things.
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  Now I want to read to you what Carmen wrote because she sees
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  apathy from a completely different angle, and her insight
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  might help both partners and solo viewers as well.
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  Sometimes apathy looks like withdrawal, and it's easy to
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  take it personally. I used to think Bryce was upset
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  or not interested, but once we understood apathy better, I
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  learned to separate the disease from the person.
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  My approach now is gentle activation.
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  I ask, what's one small thing that you can do right now?
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  And I don't take the I don't take the silence personally
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  because it isn't personal. And if you're a care partner out
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  there, put care partner into this just into the comments.
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  We know that you're here. That was good.
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  Thank you so much, Carmen. It was awesome.
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  So now let's transition and talk about what to say in
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  appointments so this doesn't get misdiagnosed again.
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  And here is the exact, this is the exact sentence that I use
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  now. I like the hey doctor, I'm not
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  experiencing sadness. I'm experiencing lack of of
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  motivation, lack of initiation that changes with my dopamine
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  cycle. This could be apathy.
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  Can we review my medication timings or dosage or dosage?
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  Short, clear and effective. All right, before we wrap up,
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  here comes today's braces with Parkinson's.
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  Depression hurts your heart. Apathy hides your spark, and
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  your spark deserves a chance to shine again.
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  All right, well, there you go. And listen, if this episode
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  helped you, please hit like so more people can find it.
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  And tell me in the comments, what's one thing apathy has
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  stolen from you and what's one thing that that you want to take
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  back? And if you want to go deeper, if
• 9:31
  you want some deeper support, come join the inner circle.
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  It's where we talk about these moments honestly.
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  And until next time, I want you to keep showing up.
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  You keep being real and keep doing life.
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  Today we'll see you on the next episode.
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  Parkinson's may be part of your life, but it doesn't get to
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  define it. Thanks for listening to Living
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  with Parkinson's, the good, the bad, and the Reality.
• 9:58
  If this episode moved you, helped you, or reminded you
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  you're not alone, share it with someone who needs to hear it.
• 10:05
  Want to go deeper? The inner circle was waiting
• 10:08
  monthly Zoom calls, 24/7 community, and a Direct Line to
• 10:12
  Bryce. You'll find the link in the show
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  notes. Until next time, keep showing up
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  and keep doing life today.