Yup. Apathe. Bad stuff - sometimes. I think of this as a verbal way of describing "depression" - a kind of sinking into helpless/hopelessness. Very common. Lots of people take medication for it. Most of the time I think that is silly. Feeds the drug companies, et. al., but doesn't solve the person's problem. I used to call this the Molasses Octopus. I would visualize my life as a path in the forest, up ahead was a darker spot. In that spot was a deep pool of molasses, sticky stuff. And in the pool was an octopus that would reach out and pull me in. The way I see it, depression is a signal that I am stuck. I am pounding my head against something important to me, and my tools/skills are not making any progress. I think this is completely normal in the mid to latter part of the Power Struggle. The tools you know aren't working, no matter how hard you try. Tis that old familiar definition of Insanity: "Trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result." The obvious (wasn't obvious to me years ago) solution is to stop everything and learn new tools - tools that work. In this case, take a look at my paper on the Testicle Principle. Clingers, in my experience, seem to have to get stuck before they learn the tools they need. Yeah, just cuz you're not male doesn't mean this isn't for you. Good luck. http://al.turtlecounseling.com/blog/_archives/2007/2/6/2715346.html