Anhedonia what is that

[Selena248]

I recently found a blog that I will post at the end which I related to a lot. But this word came up.

Anhedonia​

What Is Anhedonia?

Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure. It's a common symptom of depression as well as other mental health disorders.

www.webmd.com

I never knew there was a word for this feeling. I thought I was just numb. Numb isn’t the word. This is real. Ever just feel like you’ve lost interest in everything. You don’t want to be touched or even see people. It’s part of depression and society anxiety but this is the specific word. I thought I would share esp to those suffering. You’re not alone

 

[SteeleyJ]

Anhedonia is the lack of the ability to find pleasure in life. Happens coming off highly addictive drugs. It causes a good many of us to relapse.

 

[Jabberwocky]

It is also a side effect of some commonly prescribed psychiatric medications. For both coming off addictive drugs and being on psychiatric drugs it often goes away with time. You can also make efforts to teach yourself to get pleasure out of life. Or relearn how to have pleasure if you’ve lost the ability.

I’ve suffered anhedonia several times in my life. It can be quite crippling. Basically you cannot see the sense or point in making any effort to engage with anything. Fortunately for me it only ever lasted a few months in each case.

 

[Nurse Ratched]

It is also a side effect of some commonly prescribed psychiatric medications. For both coming off addictive drugs and being on psychiatric drugs it often goes away with time. You can also make efforts to teach yourself to get pleasure out of life. Or relearn how to have pleasure if you’ve lost the ability.

I’ve suffered anhedonia several times in my life. It can be quite crippling. Basically you cannot see the sense or point in making any effort to engage with anything. Fortunately for me it only ever lasted a few months in each case.

Same. I also have only had it a few times and crippling is an appropriate word for it. Soul crushing. Thank God those days are over. I would have rather suffered broken bones than that mind fuck.

 

[Selena248]

It is also a side effect of some commonly prescribed psychiatric medications. For both coming off addictive drugs and being on psychiatric drugs it often goes away with time. You can also make efforts to teach yourself to get pleasure out of life. Or relearn how to have pleasure if you’ve lost the ability.

I’ve suffered anhedonia several times in my life. It can be quite crippling. Basically you cannot see the sense or point in making any effort to engage with anything. Fortunately for me it only ever lasted a few months in each case.

I’ve felt this for decades and I didn’t even know it had a name. I thought I was asexual for awhile as well. Even coming off drugs didn’t change it. Do you think they will ever be Hope for me

 

[Jabberwocky]

Do you think they will ever be Hope for me

It is pretty clear that for many people it is related to neurotransmitter problems in the brain. But not always. Some SSRI’s will help but can also make it worse. It is also influenced by things outside the brain, like stress and trauma, which can benefit from psychosocial treatment (therapy). In my case it was very treatment resistant so i was given Electroconvulsive Therapy - which really worked incredibly well. I also had to mentally commit to pushing myself to do activities until I started to feel a benefit: for me that was swimming laps and walking and eventually going to fitness classes.

Normally you need a psychiatrist and psychologist working in combination to treat it.

 

[4meSM]

In my case it was very treatment resistant so i was given Electroconvulsive Therapy - which really worked incredibly well.

If you don't mind me asking... Was it painful? How many sessions did it take for you to notice results?

I find it hard to tell the difference between anhedonia and depression, I guess anhedonia is often a manifestation of depression but it can also have other causes.

 

[Jabberwocky]

If you don't mind me asking... Was it painful? How many sessions did it take for you to notice results?

I find it hard to tell the difference between anhedonia and depression, I guess anhedonia is often a manifestation of depression but it can also have other causes.

Not painful in the slightest. Actually quite pleasant because you get short-acting general anaesthetic. The only downside is a bit of short term memory loss (like your doctor’s name and where you left your keys).

I think the difference with depression is that depression can be “about” something: the state of your life or job or relationship, things that have happened to you, failed ambitions( stuff like that. Whereas anhedonia is a kind of empty joylessness that is not obviously attached to anything in particular.

It’s like you walk out into a beautiful spring or summer’s day and feel absolutely nothing. Not the warmth of the sun, the beauty ot the landscape, the sceny of the grass. You just get nothing.

So it totally kills any motivation to do anything because there is no elation/joy/pleasure to be felt as a reward for doing anything.

That’s why CBT becomes important. You nerd to usr your rational brain to make sure you do things to get through life and gradually appreciate things again.

 

[Hierophanty]

Thank you for posting this. Makes a lot of sense.

 

[Selena248]

Thank you for posting this. Makes a lot of sense.

Any time. Hey the more you know right

 

[Selena248]

It is pretty clear that for many people it is related to neurotransmitter problems in the brain. But not always. Some SSRI’s will help but can also make it worse. It is also influenced by things outside the brain, like stress and trauma, which can benefit from psychosocial treatment (therapy). In my case it was very treatment resistant so i was given Electroconvulsive Therapy - which really worked incredibly well. I also had to mentally commit to pushing myself to do activities until I started to feel a benefit: for me that was swimming laps and walking and eventually going to fitness classes.

Normally you need a psychiatrist and psychologist working in combination to treat it.

Wow. It’s weird because I’ve felt this since I was very young. For me unfortunately I have the free government insurance in the US and lol it’s a joke. My neuro doesn’t take it and he’s 200$ a visit. But I always find money for drugs. They recently found a mass between my temporal lobe that I was born with. Apparently all this time I’ve been having aura seizures and been misdiagnosed for 34 years. But now due to lack of appropriate insurance I’m sorta stuck. I dunno what to do anymore

 

[Jabberwocky]

I don't think I will ever get above 50 percent. Better.

One of the things I learned was to really pay attention to how i was spending my time. If a person stays in bed until lunchtime, watches TV all afternoon, and eats nothing but microwave fast food, and takes all their drugs alone they are going to feel pretty anhedonic. (Not saying you do that, it’s just an illustrative example)

The more a person fills their day with constructive activities that generate things like a sense of achievement (no matter how small), or a sense of companionship or fellowship with others, the brighter the world is going to start to seem. I wasn’t working when I had it worst and one of the things I did to help was get up at dawn and go for a walk and then make sure I was put of the house all afternoon from 1 PM to 6 PM. It was my challenge to find things to do in that time.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Do you still have it ? I not sure how to spell.
Anhoedonia.

No. I am pretty much completely cured of it. Even though I have had some very depressing things happen in the last 2 years (family stuff and relationship breakdown). I don’t really get depression or depression-like feelings very much anymore. I did feel it for a little while for about 2 weeks around a year ago when I made big changes to my medication (stopping taking some stuff), but it passed. Mainly I think because I’d already had a lot of experience with it and knew how to manage it.