ABSTRACT
While waiting to be seen in our clinic his clinical condition worsened significantly. He became profoundly withdrawn, stopped taking care of himself, did not eat for days on end, had not opened his mail and had not washed for a considerable time. While he was somewhat depressed, the most prominent feature was his profound lack of will to engage in goal-directed behaviour (abulia). Unlike people with depression that is severe enough to result in significant self-neglect, he did not have mood-congruent delusions or hallucinations, nor did he entertain nihilistic or suicidal ideas.
