re-assosiate pleasure

[belfort]

No. Then you're right back off where you started, viz. dependent on drugs for daily functioning.

Enrich your life with hobbies, good friends, music, etc. rather than chemicals.

believe me, ive tried that but anhedonia persists...things that were once enjoyable just dont hold the same zap..at times i feel my pleasure center has been forever warped or deflated..this is the hardest part of staying sober for me, the persistent anhedonia..

 

[belfort]

^ it sounds to me like antidepressant drugs (as mentioned earlier) or antidepressant counseling like you mentioned could both benefit tundradesert523 in the way he described. Combined with positive lifestyle changes (even if OP isn't literally sitting around smoking and masturbating all day) I think either type of therapy can have real positive benefits.




You're right, if it was no one would be depressed. Sustaining those kinds of changes without any help is next to impossible for a lot of people. I think the major benefits from depression treatment (whether drug or counseling) is giving people the strength to make the kinds of lifestyle changes that will lead to a better outlook in the long term, even after treatment ends.

the problem OP is talking about isnt depression, its anhedonia...in my case, when i got clean even after a year and a half i had an extremely hard time just enjoying tiny littl things..in turn, this led to depression...SSRIs or other anti-depressants didnt help my case of anhedonia at all..welbutrin helped my anticipatory anhedia for a little while but then pooped out..

this is a very difficult aspect of addiction, anhedonia..it isnt that op is looking for common everyday things to be as enjoyable as shooting heroin or taking MDMA, he just wants to be able to get moderate enjoyment from waking up on a nice day, watching a good tv show or ball game etc etc..

 

[tundradesert523]

When you are conditioned by drug use to experience life in an altered state--either heightened emotions or numbed emotions e.g.--the adjustment to experiencing life simply with the five senses you were born with can feel lackluster in comparison. That comparison is where the thinking gets muddled IMO.

Sekio's advice to get new friends, new hobbies, new interests or career is not simplistic at all. How easy is it to change all that up? It's not easy and the rewards are far greater for that very reason. The difference is that a drug changes things in your experience instantly whereas life changes and internal changes happen subtly over time. My ability to experience happiness, bliss and even ecstasy has continued to deepen over a whole lifetime. When I was young I wanted everything to happen NOW. The problem was that it was never enough because enhancing one moment sucks the air out of the following moment; you never have the chance to let a larger beauty unfold. Finding the abundance of possibility surrounding you every single moment that you are alive is entirely possible. It is all about your thoughts and those often are more habitual and reactionary than you think. Study your own thoughts. Play around with them. Learn life's rhythms and your own and watch the interplay. Find a creative outlet that resonates in you that involves both body and mind--art has a way of deepening living profoundly.

@atara: I am going to be laughing over "break into the neighbors' house and clean their floor" for a long time! Next time I need an adrenaline rush I am going to consider breaking and entering with the added enhancement of domestic satisfaction.

Very well said.

In the time since i posted this i have started to feel a bit better. Ive been more active and found a few things that i enjoy doing and have made new friends along the way. I'm sure i still have a ways to go but looking forward to the one or two things that ive come to enjoy is enough to keep me moving right now. It still feels like i have to force myself to do almost anything but, when i do, i find some enjoyment.

107 days clean today.