Expert Reveals A Medical Condition, ‘Give-Up-Itis’ That Kills Within Days And Signs To Look Out For| MUST READ

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Experts have revealed a medical condition that kills within days. According to the research, people can die simply because they have given up on life – and it can happen within days. Dr John Leach, from Portsmouth University, said his study showed ‘give-up-itis’ – or psychogenic death – is a real medical condition. He found out that people can pass away in as little as 3 days after a traumatic life event- if they believe they cannot overcome it.

Give-up-itis was coined during the Korean war, when prisoners would stop speaking, lose the will to eat and perish within days.

Dr Leach believes when a person feels beaten by life, it changes the activity in the region of the brain that motivates them to take care of themselves.

He said: “Psychogenic death is real. It isn’t suicide, it isn’t linked to depression, but the act of giving up on life and dying usually within days, is a very real condition often linked to severe trauma.”

As part of his research, he has unveiled the 5 stages of the condition and explained how patients progress over a matter of weeks. It starts with social withdrawal, before they quickly lose interest in even looking after themselves.

The 3rd stage is the inability to take initiative or make decisions, the 4th stage can see patients become incontinent and lie in their own waste while the 5th stage is psychogenic death and it is described as someone totally losing the will to live.

Dr Leach stated further:

“Severe trauma might trigger some people’s anterior cingulate circuit to malfunction. Motivation is essential for coping with life and if that fails, apathy is almost inevitable.”

He said that the most common interventions are physical activity and/or a person being able to see that a situation is at least, partially within their control which could trigger the release of the ‘feel-good’ chemical dopamine.

He added that:

“Reversing the give-up-itis slide towards death tends to come when a survivor finds or recovers a sense of choice, of having some control, and tends to be accompanied by that person licking their wounds and taking a renewed interest in life.”

WHAT ARE THE 5 STAGES OF GIVE-UP-ITIS?

Below are the 5 stages of give-up-itis that you must be mindful of.

1.SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL

After a life trauma, many people avoid the contact of others.

As seen in prisoners-of-war, they may also struggle to show emotion and become indifferent to other people’s suffering. This can be a way of coping because it allows them to disengage from their feelings in order to be more emotionally stable, but if it persists, they may struggle to gather enthusiasm or interest for anything.

2. APATHY

This occurs when a person is no longer interested in looking after themselves and may even lack the motivation to shower, Dr Leach said.

The Italian chemist, Primo Levi, who survived the Holocaust, said: “After only one week of prison, the instinct for cleanliness completely disappeared in me.”

For some, “the smallest task begins to feel like the mightiest eﬀort,” according to an Englishman who was held in a Russian prison between 2003 and 2005.

3. ABOULIA

If apathy goes unchecked, it can lead to aboulia – the inability to take initiative or make decisions.

A concentration camp victim said, “Many inmates ceased to wash. This was the ﬁrst step to the grave. It was an almost iron law: Those who failed to wash every day soon died.”

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People with aboulia may withdraw deeper within themselves and struggle to even speak. Often, people at this stage continue to look after others, such as their children, but become less and less motivated to care for themselves.

Dr Leach added further:

“An interesting thing about aboulia is there appears to be an empty mind or a consciousness devoid of content. People at this stage who have recovered describe it as having a mind like mush, or of having no thought whatsoever. In aboulia, the mind is on stand-by and a person has lost the drive for goal directed behaviour.”

4. PSYCHIC AKINESIA

Psychic akinesia can occur when a person’s motivation drops so much they may even become incontinent and lie in their own waste. Also at this stage, many prisoners-of-war have become unaware of pain and may not even flinch during beatings.

In Dr Leach’s research, he describes a 19-year-old woman diagnosed with psychic akinesia who suffered second-degree burns while on a beach. Although likely in extreme pain, she was not motivated enough to cover up.

5. PSYCHOGENIC DEATH

This the final stage of ‘give-up-itis’ and Dr Leach describes it as someone totally losing the will to live.

An Austrian psychiatrist and survivor of the Holocaust, Viktor Frankl said: “They might be lying in their own excreta and nothing – no warning, no beating, no pleading can make them want to live.”

In concentration camps, people who reached this stage were often known to be near death when they started smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes were highly valuable in camps and could be traded for food.

Dr Leach concluded: “When a prisoner took out a cigarette and lit it, their camp mates knew the person had truly given up, had lost faith in their ability to carry on and would soon be dead. Before passing away, someone may even show a flicker of life, such as enjoying a cigarette. It appears briefly as if the ’empty mind’ stage has passed and has been replaced by what could be described as goal-directed behaviour but the paradox is that, while a flicker of goal-directed behaviour often takes place, the goal itself appears to have become relinquishing life.”