i recently heard about anhedonia while googling why i can't enjoy the things i once used to. as a creative person all my life, the past few years i haven't been able to have anywhere near the creative output i once did. it's absolutely pitiful and frustrating to the point where i just don't even try, and even if i did, it's like why bother and i don't get the enjoyment out of it like i used to. it feels like work and i dread the feeling of not enjoying myself, so i just steer away from it, just feeling like, 'ugh'. i'm not sure what created this situation, but your video was extremely helpful in helping me learn more. i think i may have anhedonia, i'm not totally sure. there are definitely times when i don't feel like this (but i still don't do anything creative). at bad times i do feel as some others have pointed out in the comments, that they feel dead to themselves, but they're just doing stuff they're supposed to do. when i have some downtime, i just watch tv or youtube shorts and wait until i'm needed again. if there are chores, i do them because they need to get done.
I cannot believe how he is describing me so well. It’s incredible. I’m so glad I found these videos because I finally feel like I have the tools to get myself out of this hell I’ve been living in
I have rarely seen a psychology-video that provides not only so much great content and NO BS tips in a short amount of time - but also so much HOPE... and even humor! :-) Very well done Sir, thanks SO MUCH! I almost never comment on a TH-cam-video, but here I had to write sth... :-) Cheers from Munich! Hanjo
I don't know what to say... Just, thank you, for this series. It's practical advice like this which I've ignored for too long, getting too caught up with just diving deeper and deeper in my inner existentialism, to the point where I've become incredibly detached from the real world (which I feel like is the cause for this to begin with). Time to go on a bike ride I suppose right now, haven't done that in a while...
You're welcome. Anhedonia is a seldom-discussed topic, and most of the instinctive ways to handle it tend to make it worse. There are unfortunately no guarantees about any particular strategy, but these are many of the ones that show the greatest promise.
@@RandyPaterson from your experience with treating anhedonia, what would you say, are dietary changes and vitamin supplementation any helpful long term?
This comment has pretty much summed up how I feel too, thank you. Without sounding philosophical, meditation has been the driving force in increasing my consciousness, as you say losing touch with reality and spending too much time in my mind, unaware of my surroundings and senses. I feel the constant anxiety and thinking about my studies, neglecting everything in pursuit of some grades led me to this state of consciousness and looking back it seems a profoundly reckless thing to do. Anyways enough of that, I hope things have improved since you made this comment and are still following the videos advice.
Thank you. Just thank you. It has been hard and today I learned that there is a word for this. Anhedonia. And your advice is-truthfully-life saving. I’ve been feeling so low and this video is the first one that has given me not only hope, but a road map. Swimming pool-excellent. It is the one thing i can do, that i do do, that is a life jacket…
I don't need any excuses to turn down invitations. I didn't really care for socializing before my Anhedonia. I went but was usually ready to go home shortly after arriving.
I have yet to find a healthcare professional with a more in depth knowledge of how to overcome anhedonia than the knowledge you share in your videos. My healthcare professionals have absolutely no clue whatsoever as to how to approach anhedonia except saying 'keep doing the things you used to enjoy' which is kind of a no-brainer
Well, feel free to suggest the video to them. It would be preferable if I could say, like so many youtube videos on psychological topics, that the problem is easily solved. But the reality is that it takes a fair bit of work. In most cases anhedonia resolves eventually on its own - but that can be an extremely drawn-out process. The primary goal is not to produce change, but to produce it more quickly. In my experience, these steps appear helpful in accomplishing that.
@@RandyPaterson the paradox is that the lack of motivation and the broken positive feedback loop makes it hard to push oneself to keep going. Listening to these videos is helpful. Thanks!
@@RandyPatersonhi , i need help pls. You're comment was helpful. I'm suffering horribly from depression,.. anhidonia. Horrible stressful events of death and job loss... has devastated me. I've called 988, and had gone to hospital. How can I survive this..? I don't want to suffer no more 🙏
I can be alone. But do not like being lonely. I believe that I've been carrying this issue all my life. I think it stems from severe emotional neglect, and being dismissed.
Fantastic video. The analogies are extremely helpful. I'm going through a major episode of MDD right now. It is a brutal struggle to do anything, let alone something I enjoyed in the past. I struggle to get up and get going. The anhedonia is relentlessly trying to convince me that nothing is worth doing. But, I tell myself: let ME be the judge of that. The majority of the time I enjoy the activity while I'm doing it. Thanks so much for this incredibly informative, compassionate lesson for those of us who are suffering.
This is absolutely wonderful, the only thing I think should be different is don’t keep tell yourself you have anhedonia. It’s not yours, you don’t ‘have’ it. A friend told me that when I told her I had cancer. She said stop calling it ‘yours’. That was SO helpful! Hugs to everyone going through this. 💗
One challenge is that a symptom can become a part of one's identity. "I am a person with anhedonia." "I am an agoraphobic." "I am my diagnosis." And so on. We want the symptoms to flow, a bit like the tide. Allowing them to come in, allowing them to slide away. When we make them part of our self-understanding and self-identity, we may be freezing them in place.
Finally, I understand what my lack of motivation is. I mean I’m an actor and singer, extremely extroverted, social butterfly, and in total hustle mode but wait, that’s what I used to be. For some reason I’ve dropped out and turned out. I have been classified with bipolar.2 and depression, and I am taking meds for it. I was always apprehensive about meds, but even if the depression settled or I didn’t have feelings of mania, I had the blast feeling this very kind of mediocre feeling of a dull, lull. I’m desperately trying to find my ““ mojo again. It is extremely hard to find what made me happy before. I honestly don’t even recognize myself from the former self that I used to be. I will tell you that I understand now a little bit more about the feelings I’m going through. The 🏖Beach used to be my second skin and for all intents and purposes, it still is but I went the other day and I was there 15 minutes and left. I thought to myself at least I got out of bed. At least I brushed my hair and brushed my teeth and went Half an hour to go to the beach. Even though I only stayed 15 minutes I managed to get myself out and feel the sunshine on my face. I do freestyle, hip-hop, dancing, or I powerwalk and I used to go for miles or dance for two hours or more. Now if I get a moment of feeling positive or heightened, I see is the moment even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes cause I don’t know when that moment will go down again. But it’s true what you said that even if you hate going out or doing things what you used to do you have to do them. It’s really hard to push yourself when you’re in this mood. I’m fighting a couple of different demons and they don’t play fair. All in all though thank you for your advice.
I hear you as my story is very similar, I have this and also ADHD so they can overlap, but regards nights out I was social and able to speak to girls and introduce friends and have fun whereas now I have lost the enthusiasm, I don't feel the urge to want to talk to new people, i prefer to just be with my friends and i am currently out of work and i haven't been looking largely because it carries no excitement even though it's really important, i struggle to do it and I go to bed late, it's a cycle i am trying to break and to stop scrolling on my phone but it's tough and just doing the thing you once enjoyed is hard as you have to push yourself rather than being happy and willingly doing it
You’ve helped explain the exact thing I’m suffering from. Thank you so much. I’m taking your advice. It’s hard but doing is better than doing nothing. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥰
Fantastic advice. It's so nice to encounter someone who doesn't pedal instant solutions to complex, intractable problems, but who instead speaks with sympathy and understanding in a way that makes sense at a human level. I don't feel as if I now have some magic key to return to my full range of feelings, but at least I have a useful toolbox that will help me to do the work myself. I cannot thank you enough.
I am amazed. This was a gem. I subconsciously knew what is needed to fix my issues but how effortlessly you put them into words and more importantly with relatable examples. Thank you!
Thank you so much for the videos. My therapist has never explained it to me this way, she just says"Do it". She never explains that there are steps to regain joy. I'm constantly saying that I'm doomed with this forever but she doesn't tell me that there is hope. Thank you for these videos, this is all new information for me, I wish you were my counselor.
Absolutely phenomenal video. This is everything I was looking for, I'll create a bookmark and rewatch it regularly until I've internalized all the ideas.
I have a therapist, but I hate talking to anyone else about this, but this video helped so much, and it means the world, this video really works, and if it doesn’t work for you then there is still hope, but for me this helped so much, thank you so much, I’ve Learned that it’s pretty much my brain playing tricks on me, for real, thank you so much.
There isn’t a video on TH-cam, certainly not on my channel, that will prove useful for everyone. If you’ve found it so for you, feel free to let your therapist know. With clients we are always looking for what resonates, what hits home. If this does for you, it may help point your therapist in a useful direction.
Thank you for this feedback. My hope is that posts on this channel do not oversimplify or overpromise (unlike so much on TH-cam, about which I have some ambivalence). Do keep in mind that while I can speak about psychological issues, I cannot address directly the difficulties experienced by any person I have not assessed. There are exceptions to everything. That said, the ideas in these two videos guide much of my clinical practice when working with depression-related anhedonia.
Yes bias, I like that, lately I've been doing just that, agreeing to do stuff, it's so tempting to turn down a job interview or say no to a thought of going to a karaoke which I used to enjoy tremendously, but now I just do it. At the end of the day , who cares if it's not pleasurable, at least something happened and made my day more eventful.
People often worry that if they say yes they will become trapped in something long term - like pushing off at the top of a water slide. Once you're going, you're pretty much going to the end regardless of what you think about it. But in most of life, saying yes doesn't do this. You retain control and the option of saying no or doing a rethink. A yes bias is generally a good idea, at least as a way of countering the 'no bias' that depression and anhedonia often bring.
Both part 1 and 2 are very informative and easy to understand. I have been dealing with this feeling of blah for as long as I can remember. I only recently heard of Anhedonia and decided to look up some videos. Other videos don't seem to go over any treatment in great detail like this. Not only did you explain how to help yourself through Anhedonia but also why it helps. I found myself thinking "that's exactly what happens with me!" constantly while watching these videos. Thank you for your advice
Hi Doc, can you make a video on the impact of Anhedonia and loving relationships? What do we do when we feel empty towards our loved ones and our spouse? That’s tough, it makes you doubt your relationship.
Thankyou so much for this fabulous video. It is so informative and helpful with the examples you provide of our thought processes and barriers we put up. The neuroscience behind all this is interesting too eg how thoughts just like behaviours can be seen as 'habits' (I only know this because I just did a 6 week online course) - it does help to understand the 'why'. I really appreciate your style and detailed explanations. And while change takes time we do need to be reminded of this and also to be patient (and compassionate with ourselves). Thankyou!
You're welcome. If you'd like a print version of some related ideas, my books "How to be Miserable" and "How to be Miserable in Your Twenties" are available through online booksellers. As well, there are dozens of other videos on this channel on topics related to psychology and mental health. Subscribing will get them to you as "suggestions" when you visit TH-cam.
Thank you so much for this post. It was perfectly stated and extremely helpful giving me some incite regarding my complete and utter disinterest with..well....everything.
Thanks for these videos-this is some of the best advice I have seen about coping with anhedonia. I suffered from ssri induced anhedonia and apathy for 18 years. I wish someone had offered me this advice. Therapists were clueless on how to help me cope with it.
I can't thank you enough for the insight ! Please share with us your thoughts on methods that aid in shoving away Anhedonia like the TMS treatment and medications?!
The strategies that I discuss in these videos are primarily behavioural in nature; some involve the adoption of specific ways of thinking. I do not cover pharmacological or TMS-related strategies.
Best to manage this with the help of others - particularly a therapist able to help you take these and other ideas and tailor them for your particular situation.
I feel like my pssd anhedonia might be on a different level.. i can't even drink alcoholic and feel it. I can't feel any emotions, good or bad. My libiod is gone as well as my sense of touch and taste. I dont even feel like i have a soul at this point. I can't even focus on a show or anything on tv. I listen to music loudly in hopes that one day ill feel passion for it again. Only 22 days in and i feel like giving up.
@4DTravelr I'm sorry this happened to you, too. It's a horrible, inhumane, and downright cruel thing to experience. The worst part is I have a little 8yr old boy who just can't comprehend what's wrong with me. Can't even feel love when I hug my husband of 12yrs. It's the most vile thing I never knew could happen to a person. But that's very interesting. I'll look into it. Thank you for the advice.
🙏I'm very sorry, to hear of your suffering.! I'm here because I too am suffering terribly from depression and anxiety and insomnia over a life altering traumatic event, that lead to total loss. Anhidonia is pure torture!!... I don't know how to handle this. I force!! Myself to just go for a walk!!?? ... and with no enjoyment. I used to be so happy, busy, and full of life and desires. Now I'm stuck in apt., with no life,.. and no pleasure... my mental and physical health are declining ... but, with this depression,... how to get better is a catch 22, you cannot feel happiness in doing anything that will help... even therapy hasn't helped..... I don't want to take medications... so ... I don't know how to survive this. 🙏😟... sorry for venting . I feel bad that's why,. And we share this. 🙏for you.
@@gemini-vibes6118I'm also sorry to hear of your suffering. I too noticed when I hug my son... the normal extreme love I uses to feel is gone 😢.. that is so unbearable. I had an extremely stressful event that made me loose everything, including my career job. I cannot believe I'm not working no more. It was my 2nd family and I loved it. Didn't realize how connected I was... structure, identity, purpose, social interaction, etc... im suffering from bad depression. I miss my life as before.... 🙏for us..
My late husband and I shared a love of trad jazz. He died just over 20 years ago and I still could listen to his records until lock down. (have suffered from anhedonia for decades) nowadays... nothing. No excitement from the happy music, just nothing. Can't be bothered to play them now. In fact no music at all. I will try his suggestion of 5 minutes at one time. I did 5 minutes reading today and ENJOYED it. Now looking forward to reading for 5 minutes tomorrow! 😊
The videos are a bit long, but the challenging concept of "doing it because you're doing it" and getting rid of the focus on outcome ("doing so that I'll feel differently") is an essential one - and often difficult to get across in a way that's comprehensible.
I have ADHD and I noticed I was losing interest in things, so not only are the boring things difficult to start on so are the things i found interesting, some things can still get me interested especially if it's something new. I thought I must have depression now I realise it's anhedonia, it can get mixed in with adhd and a lot of things I wasn't good at so didn't continue or just lost interest over time, so there isn't much I enjoy
There is a parallel here for people who really don't have anhedonia as well. Covid imposed a lot of lifestyle changes, causing people to give up many of the things that used to give them joy - inviting friends over, travel, sports, planning social events, and so on. As things ease up, they do something that feels intuitively obvious: "I'll start doing that stuff again the moment I feel the impulse or desire." What a lot of people are noticing is that the desire just isn't coming back. "Huh. I guess I don't like that stuff any more." The trick is to get desire out of the equation. "I used to like the volleyball team, so I'll go even though I'm not thrilled by the thought." Action first, desire second. Again, this isn't at all the intensity or level of aversion that true anhedonia can bring - but the principle is similar. "I will do these things based on my knowledge of my self and my past, not because I feel drawn to them at the moment." Obviously it may then turn out that our interests have moved on. Whereas once long ago the thought of spending a weekend without once going to a club was unthinkable, now I would pay good money not to be dragged to one.
is there a difference between anhedonia and emotional blunting? i feel like i may be experiencing the latter as even negative emotions seem to be non-existent. negative social media comments don't bother me anymore when they used to anger me, reading articles of terrible things happening to innocent people or kids suffering from leukemia used to make me sooo sad and now i feel nothing and just keep scrolling. i know this isn't me and i want my old brain back
The phenomena are somewhat related, though anhedonia is more of a specific lack of emotional “lift” from doing things that ordinarily would provide it. A more general blunting or flattening of all emotion, welcome and uncomfortable, can be a presentation of depression or many other conditions, including some med effects. Best to raise this with a clinician who knows your situation - the prescriber if you suspect a medication link.
Anhedonia is a symptom, grief is a reaction to loss. During grief, activities that normally would give one pleasure may no longer do so, suggesting the presence of anhedonia as one of the aspects of the grief response. But anhedonia (like fever) appears in many different types of situation: grief, depression, post-withdrawal from substances, and more.
@@RandyPaterson thank you for the response. Question is, due to my father’s passing in 2022, followed by my own illness which I am told is resulting in my life ending sooner than later, along with a handful of other complications in life, may I just be experiencing the grief due to so much loss?
I was wondering also.... My career job loss of 25 yrs, had destroyed my existence. I m really suffering so badly. I don't want to do anything or go anywhere.
I force myself to do thinghs. Sometimes they seem fun ...for amoment ...and then I ho tumbling down into darkneas ...it is getting worae and worse ...even though I tried professional help ...
I am very grateful for your practical advice on overcoming anhedonia. I am unclear on one thing: when you describe the feeling of not enjoying an activity that one used to enjoy, what does that mean? Do most people actively disliking it, are just neutral and uninterested in it, or are they very bored by it? Boredom is what I've been experiencing and I'm just trying to understand how others experience anhedonia. Thank you.
Anhedonia, as usually conceived, is a failure to be lifted by things that once did so. So it's generally a sense of blahness. I'm hanging out with friends, but I might as well be sitting alone doing nothing. In many cases people report a sense of boredom, much like they would more commonly feel when sitting alone on the couch for an extended time. In those situations the boredom isn't a surprise so people don't see it as a problem. When they're cycling (which let's imagine they used to like) it's a violation of expectations and therefore more memorable. Boredom may be a hint, however, that emphasizing the mindfulness elements of these activities may be helpful - by which I don't mean meditation really. Cycling may not be that interesting in part because the person isn't THERE on the bike. They're distracted, thinking about other things (generally not happy ones), and get bored of their own minds. Emphasizing the ideas of coming back to the sensory present (colour of light on trees, feeling of muscles moving, sound of traffic or voices nearby) repeatedly may push the "immersive" aspects of the experience a bit more. Generally the more "present" we are with an activity, even dishwashing, the less boring it can seem - which is a bit counterintuitive because you might think that dishwashing + ruminative worry would be more engaging than dishwashing alone. Not the case, apparently.
For me, the example of playing a video game or watching Netflix as what you would’ve been doing instead of the thing that takes initiative doesn’t really ring true. For me, it takes massive motivation to watch a show on Netflix or play a video game. Things like going to the gym or walking outside come far more naturally because to me it’s more like a daily routine like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, so it doesn’t take extra motivation. Playing a video game or watching Netflix is something I assume is supposed to be fun, but given the fact that it’s such a time investment (a workout can be 30 minutes to an hour and a walk can be like 10 minutes) and that I don’t find myself enjoying it makes it super discouraging. As a result, “giving in” when it comes to Netflix or video games would just be not watching or playing at all. Yes, I’ve found myself at a point in my life where video games and TV seems like a daunting, insurmountable task, but working out almost everyday is as simple as taking a shower. Anhedonia destroys the pleasure and ease in things that are supposedly mindless and lazy.
When people reach the end of life, one of the things they do NOT say is “My life would have been so much more fulfilling had I spent more of it watching Netflix or playing video games.” Indeed, the activities you report having a hard time doing are those people often look back on as a waste of human life. So if you will forgive me, I tend to hear this as “I have no difficulty eating a diet of fruit and vegetables but, unlike Divine in the John Waters classic, I just can’t seem to choke down dog poop.” This is not really a problem. That said, reading between the lines it seems to me you must be using Netflix and video games as a metaphor for leisure more generally, which may indeed be an anhedonia-related issue. If one were to attempt to work on this, I would recommend graduated intentional exposure practice with activities that are both leisure/pleasure oriented and that one would look back on with satisfaction for having done.
I have anhendonia and i have to go to school four months cause of the summer and four months to do activities. I think that the fact i don't communicate with many people plays a role. Is it true or I'm making fake hopes for me to get better?
Great video. But what about when you have outgrown what you used to like but you consciously don’t want to cringe doing them but in parallel you don’t know what new direction to go? Thanks.
Cringing suggests shame, which is always a good signal for conscious re-evaluation. Is this interest truly shameful according to the values you hold, or is it only that we fear the judgement of others? If life is guided by the latter, it tends to get less satisfying. We do outgrow some of our interests. There are many strategies to find new ones. Here are two: 1. Set aside enjoyment ("What would I find fun?") and ask about your values ("What do I think is important" or "What would I like my contribution to the world be?"). Many of our past enjoyments are purely receptive (TV shows, roller coasters, etc), which can give a certain amount of hedonistic pleasure but little deeper resonance to life. Investigating values can be helpful. 2. Be less discriminating. Try a wide variety of new things, adopting a policy of relative openness (avoiding the stupid or dangerous). Most will not be 'hits.' Some may be. Sometimes the pleasures of life thin out because we are trying to get the same juice out of a limited number of old oranges.
@@RandyPaterson thanks you for your reply. This is really insightful. I think that my limitation is the realistic thought of the tragedy of the human existence, that eventually no matter what we do we will die.There are different approaches to distract ourselves from this ie religion, work, family, trips, anything everyone chooses to believe in or invest their life in order to be distracted. When I took a step back and looked my life and realised how caught up I had been with work, business, hobbies, but at the end of the day aren’t all these distractions? Are we here eventually to spend some years distracted by the distractions we choose to distract ourselves?
I had anhedonia and I lost all the feelings and love I had for my partner my psychiatrist gave me antidepressants I'm taking those pills and now I feel relaxed I dnt get anxious I go out enjoy with my frnds but still those feelings and love Haven't come back will u tell me how much time it takes to get back to complete normal like a person was before getting anhedonia
There is no way to predict how long the recovery of enjoyment will take. I believe that it can be very helpful to have an experienced counselor who can tailor ideas to a person's own very individual experience, however. A registered healthcare professional who actually knows you and the specifics of your situation is always a better bet than "some guy on youtube who knows nothing about me."
@@RandyPaterson i am a member of a Facebook group titled "Anhedonia, let's feel good again," and based on many of our group members' disappointing experiences with therapists not understanding how to treat anhedonia, your advice is way ahead of the curve. Pretty good for a "random guy on the internet"!
When we are distracted, it is most often by something that resides entirely within our own minds. We are with friends and begin thinking of work tomorrow, or our financial situation, or those medical tests we haven’t got back yet, or what these people might be thinking of us in the invisible recesses of their minds. By returning to our sensory reality - even a small bit of it, like the sensation of water on our hand - we are attending to something real and present. By practicing the return to the sensory present, we can get better at it. We can recognize more quickly when we have voyaged off into outer space or the imaginary future, and more readily return to the less dramatic, less scary, actuality of our life in the moment.
This can be a bit like adapting to a darkened room after being in blinding sunlight - there seems to be no light at all, but gradually the eyes learn to compensate and develop the capacity to perceive. Eventually there is no sense of the room being dim. I'm not happy with the analogy of opiates to sunlight, but you get the idea. Opiates are often sought precisely because they flood the reward system to the point that the activities of daily life cannot compete. Neither, ultimately, can the drugs themselves - hence the endless pursuit for that "first high" experience. Best wishes on your recovery; get support from others and hang in until you habituate to the drug's absence.
This is a common concern. Every book, every movie, every party, every vacation, every job, and every person we love will, one day, end. It’s all temporary, including our youth and our life. For some this makes it all meaningless and worthless. For others, it is this very ephemerality that makes it precious. Knowing that it will end does not mean that we should not act to enable it to begin.
@@RandyPaterson Thank you. Your insight is appreciated. Just a day after watching your videos on Anhedonia I’ve already went for a short bike ride and fooled around with my legos. Haven’t done either of those in nearly a year. Being in the moment and remembering that everything doesn’t have to be “productive,” in the adult sense, is refreshing. Also showed your videos to my spouse and she recognized some of the symptoms in herself. She’s committed to working on it with me. So thankful for your videos!
My depression (wich included the symptom of anhedonia) had a clear cause in my life... getting a job that I hated. Only after quitting that job I started to feel pleasure again in my life...So maybe anhedonia can be cured by curing the cause of the depression instead of treating the symptom itself.
Where the cause can be dealt with, that’s at least part of an optimal approach. Sometimes the anhedonia lifts as a result, sometimes not. A big part of the problem is that the capacity for enjoyment typically returns sooner than the drive to participate in those activities. Rather than waiting for interest, doing what one used to enjoy can help kickstart the motivation.
I wonder if my depression/anhedonia is caused by my job that I hate.... but I can't bring myself to leave due to anxiety in multiple ways. I've been in therapy for years and we still haven't been able to shake the anhedonia :( I hope one day I'll be able to leave my job, and I hope things feel better. Hope is all I have that one day things won't feel like this.
People do seem to vary in their emotional responsivity. Some oscillate wildly from highs to lows in response to events. Others are less affected by what happens in the moment. I think it helps to recognize what our own "usual" emotional variability is, and use that as a baseline. Maybe a hockey game gets a buddy standing and screaming with enthusiasm from the stands, but we have never been a person who gets that charged up about anything. Fine. But what are the things that produce those milder upward oscillations that we do experience? I also think that anhedonia is a bit of an oversimplified concept. It tends to lump all positive emotion into "hedon." In reality, of course, there are many shadings and variations of positive emotion: adrenaline-fueled excitement, calm satisfaction, a sense of emotional connection or "resonance," a sense of reward from being of use to others, a sense of solidity from living out our values, and much more. We may feel we should have more of one of these, like our friends, but we may have greater access to others.
As a psychologist I don't prescribe, and so I don't have too much to say about medication. I do believe that medication is seldom a complete treatment for mood difficulties - usually some other changes need to take place as well. For anhedonia, the strategies given in these videos appear to be helpful in many cases, particularly when the anhedonia is fairly clearly a symptom of the mood problem and not a reaction to other factors (like an organic difficulty or a side effect of treatment).
You are clueless on this. This is just a list of things that sound nice and effective. Ive done every single one of them for extended periods, and it never goes away. The only times it stops, is periodical and seemingly completely random. Time on its own, is what actually fixes it. Nothing else works. Its a devastating conclusion to come to for me, but I have been forced to accept it after all these years. You are just telling people to suffer even more by forcing themselves to do these things just because they believe it will end quicker as a result of them. It does not, tragically
The "El Dorado" for mental health researchers and practitioners is to find a strategy or medication that works reliably for 100% of the people who experience a problem. Unfortunately we are still waiting. The strategies listed here are those most often recommended and found helpful. Anhedonia tends to promote inertia and withdrawal, which magnify both anhedonia and, more broadly, depression. Graduated re-engagement while cultivating equanimity and working against immediate expectation is a form of behavioural activation that seems to be the primary nonpharmacological path out of anhedonia. Given the impact this problem has on people, I am extremely open to additional or alternative approaches that may be effective for an even larger proportion of people, however.
Interesting.. I too have been trying to do, activities _ hobbies I used to love.! Still.. no desire, no joy, no pleasure. .... I ended up , giving up. My situation is worse. I'm almost bed ridden. I just hate being like this.!
and what if you have no life? oh and health care professionals are useless, i have been asking for help for months and have still gotten no where. friends family services, on one will help and i cant take much more of nothing.
There is no way to know whether these ideas will work for any particular person. If they have a registered health professional to provide guidance, this is best. For most people this is an empirical question, the answer to which will be revealed once the strategies have been tried (on an ongoing basis, given that none of them evaporate anhedonia at one go).
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i recently heard about anhedonia while googling why i can't enjoy the things i once used to. as a creative person all my life, the past few years i haven't been able to have anywhere near the creative output i once did. it's absolutely pitiful and frustrating to the point where i just don't even try, and even if i did, it's like why bother and i don't get the enjoyment out of it like i used to. it feels like work and i dread the feeling of not enjoying myself, so i just steer away from it, just feeling like, 'ugh'. i'm not sure what created this situation, but your video was extremely helpful in helping me learn more. i think i may have anhedonia, i'm not totally sure. there are definitely times when i don't feel like this (but i still don't do anything creative). at bad times i do feel as some others have pointed out in the comments, that they feel dead to themselves, but they're just doing stuff they're supposed to do. when i have some downtime, i just watch tv or youtube shorts and wait until i'm needed again. if there are chores, i do them because they need to get done.
This has completely changed how I approach my entire life! Thank you!
Fantastic video! Very helpful information and tools. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.
I cannot believe how he is describing me so well. It’s incredible. I’m so glad I found these videos because I finally feel like I have the tools to get myself out of this hell I’ve been living in
Straight up best video on this subject I've found while trying to get rid of this crippling mental state, thank you for this content.
You're welcome. It's no substitute for in-person care, though!
Please educate therapists on how to help their clients with anhedonia.
I have rarely seen a psychology-video that provides not only so much great content and NO BS tips in a short amount of time - but also so much HOPE... and even humor! :-)
Very well done Sir, thanks SO MUCH! I almost never comment on a TH-cam-video, but here I had to write sth... :-)
Cheers from Munich! Hanjo
Your delivery on this heavy & sad subject is awesome!😂Thank you!❤️
Anhedonia is REAL, not gonna gaslight myself.
Is there something in the video that implies a belief that anhedonia is not a genuine problem?
I don't know what to say... Just, thank you, for this series. It's practical advice like this which I've ignored for too long, getting too caught up with just diving deeper and deeper in my inner existentialism, to the point where I've become incredibly detached from the real world (which I feel like is the cause for this to begin with). Time to go on a bike ride I suppose right now, haven't done that in a while...
You're welcome. Anhedonia is a seldom-discussed topic, and most of the instinctive ways to handle it tend to make it worse. There are unfortunately no guarantees about any particular strategy, but these are many of the ones that show the greatest promise.
@@RandyPaterson from your experience with treating anhedonia, what would you say, are dietary changes and vitamin supplementation any helpful long term?
This comment has pretty much summed up how I feel too, thank you. Without sounding philosophical, meditation has been the driving force in increasing my consciousness, as you say losing touch with reality and spending too much time in my mind, unaware of my surroundings and senses. I feel the constant anxiety and thinking about my studies, neglecting everything in pursuit of some grades led me to this state of consciousness and looking back it seems a profoundly reckless thing to do. Anyways enough of that, I hope things have improved since you made this comment and are still following the videos advice.
Thank you. Just thank you. It has been hard and today I learned that there is a word for this. Anhedonia. And your advice is-truthfully-life saving. I’ve been feeling so low and this video is the first one that has given me not only hope, but a road map. Swimming pool-excellent. It is the one thing i can do, that i do do, that is a life jacket…
I don't need any excuses to turn down invitations. I didn't really care for socializing before my Anhedonia. I went but was usually ready to go home shortly after arriving.
I have yet to find a healthcare professional with a more in depth knowledge of how to overcome anhedonia than the knowledge you share in your videos. My healthcare professionals have absolutely no clue whatsoever as to how to approach anhedonia except saying 'keep doing the things you used to enjoy' which is kind of a no-brainer
Well, feel free to suggest the video to them. It would be preferable if I could say, like so many youtube videos on psychological topics, that the problem is easily solved. But the reality is that it takes a fair bit of work. In most cases anhedonia resolves eventually on its own - but that can be an extremely drawn-out process. The primary goal is not to produce change, but to produce it more quickly. In my experience, these steps appear helpful in accomplishing that.
@@RandyPaterson the paradox is that the lack of motivation and the broken positive feedback loop makes it hard to push oneself to keep going. Listening to these videos is helpful. Thanks!
@@RandyPatersonhi , i need help pls. You're comment was helpful. I'm suffering horribly from depression,.. anhidonia.
Horrible stressful events of death and job loss... has devastated me. I've called 988, and had gone to hospital. How can I survive this..? I don't want to suffer no more 🙏
I can be alone. But do not like being lonely. I believe that I've been carrying this issue all my life. I think it stems from severe emotional neglect, and being dismissed.
I totally agree with you. For your reasons and more, I feel like I have never had a "normal" life.
Fantastic video. The analogies are extremely helpful. I'm going through a major episode of MDD right now. It is a brutal struggle to do anything, let alone something I enjoyed in the past. I struggle to get up and get going. The anhedonia is relentlessly trying to convince me that nothing is worth doing. But, I tell myself: let ME be the judge of that. The majority of the time I enjoy the activity while I'm doing it. Thanks so much for this incredibly informative, compassionate lesson for those of us who are suffering.
Sir from the bottom of my heart, thank you
please keep making videos
All the best
This is absolutely wonderful, the only thing I think should be different is don’t keep tell yourself you have anhedonia. It’s not yours, you don’t ‘have’ it. A friend told me that when I told her I had cancer. She said stop calling it ‘yours’. That was SO helpful! Hugs to everyone going through this. 💗
One challenge is that a symptom can become a part of one's identity. "I am a person with anhedonia." "I am an agoraphobic." "I am my diagnosis." And so on. We want the symptoms to flow, a bit like the tide. Allowing them to come in, allowing them to slide away. When we make them part of our self-understanding and self-identity, we may be freezing them in place.
Finally, I understand what my lack of motivation is. I mean I’m an actor and singer, extremely extroverted, social butterfly, and in total hustle mode but wait, that’s what I used to be. For some reason I’ve dropped out and turned out. I have been classified with bipolar.2 and depression, and I am taking meds for it. I was always apprehensive about meds, but even if the depression settled or I didn’t have feelings of mania, I had the blast feeling this very kind of mediocre feeling of a dull, lull. I’m desperately trying to find my ““ mojo again. It is extremely hard to find what made me happy before. I honestly don’t even recognize myself from the former self that I used to be. I will tell you that I understand now a little bit more about the feelings I’m going through. The 🏖Beach used to be my second skin and for all intents and purposes, it still is but I went the other day and I was there 15 minutes and left. I thought to myself at least I got out of bed. At least I brushed my hair and brushed my teeth and went Half an hour to go to the beach. Even though I only stayed 15 minutes I managed to get myself out and feel the sunshine on my face. I do freestyle, hip-hop, dancing, or I powerwalk and I used to go for miles or dance for two hours or more. Now if I get a moment of feeling positive or heightened, I see is the moment even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes cause I don’t know when that moment will go down again. But it’s true what you said that even if you hate going out or doing things what you used to do you have to do them. It’s really hard to push yourself when you’re in this mood. I’m fighting a couple of different demons and they don’t play fair. All in all though thank you for your advice.
I hear you as my story is very similar, I have this and also ADHD so they can overlap, but regards nights out I was social and able to speak to girls and introduce friends and have fun whereas now I have lost the enthusiasm, I don't feel the urge to want to talk to new people, i prefer to just be with my friends and i am currently out of work and i haven't been looking largely because it carries no excitement even though it's really important, i struggle to do it and I go to bed late, it's a cycle i am trying to break and to stop scrolling on my phone but it's tough and just doing the thing you once enjoyed is hard as you have to push yourself rather than being happy and willingly doing it
❤️🩹 have very similar symptoms
You’ve helped explain the exact thing I’m suffering from. Thank you so much. I’m taking your advice. It’s hard but doing is better than doing nothing. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥰
Fantastic advice. It's so nice to encounter someone who doesn't pedal instant solutions to complex, intractable problems, but who instead speaks with sympathy and understanding in a way that makes sense at a human level. I don't feel as if I now have some magic key to return to my full range of feelings, but at least I have a useful toolbox that will help me to do the work myself. I cannot thank you enough.
WOW. It’s as if you’ve read my mind. You get it. I’m going to follow your steps. Thank you!!!
This calmed me down and might help me sleep tonight thank you. Now I know it's possible to get better
I am amazed. This was a gem. I subconsciously knew what is needed to fix my issues but how effortlessly you put them into words and more importantly with relatable examples.
Thank you!
Can not thank you enough!! I needed to hear this. Helped me finally get out of bed.
Thank you so much for the videos. My therapist has never explained it to me this way, she just says"Do it". She never explains that there are steps to regain joy. I'm constantly saying that I'm doomed with this forever but she doesn't tell me that there is hope. Thank you for these videos, this is all new information for me, I wish you were my counselor.
You're hilarious...so true.. talking ourselves out of DOING ANYTHING...
I cried watching this. Thank you.
It’s funny. Watching this video and its previous part has me FEELING good. Your suggestions make incredible sense and give me hope. THANK YOU!
You’re welcome.
Absolutely phenomenal video. This is everything I was looking for, I'll create a bookmark and rewatch it regularly until I've internalized all the ideas.
I have a therapist, but I hate talking to anyone else about this, but this video helped so much, and it means the world, this video really works, and if it doesn’t work for you then there is still hope, but for me this helped so much, thank you so much, I’ve Learned that it’s pretty much my brain playing tricks on me, for real, thank you so much.
There isn’t a video on TH-cam, certainly not on my channel, that will prove useful for everyone. If you’ve found it so for you, feel free to let your therapist know. With clients we are always looking for what resonates, what hits home. If this does for you, it may help point your therapist in a useful direction.
@@RandyPaterson I will, sadly I think it’s coming back a little, is that normal for it to come and go, just a little worried
Thank you so much. This makes all the sense to me
Thank you sir, your advice has clear my mind and help me to change my perspective.
This is the best video I’ve ever seen on recovery and coping with its challenges, I can’t thank you enough for this 🙏
Thank you for this feedback. My hope is that posts on this channel do not oversimplify or overpromise (unlike so much on TH-cam, about which I have some ambivalence). Do keep in mind that while I can speak about psychological issues, I cannot address directly the difficulties experienced by any person I have not assessed. There are exceptions to everything. That said, the ideas in these two videos guide much of my clinical practice when working with depression-related anhedonia.
I love your content. Doing great work!
Thank you for this.
Yes bias, I like that, lately I've been doing just that, agreeing to do stuff, it's so tempting to turn down a job interview or say no to a thought of going to a karaoke which I used to enjoy tremendously, but now I just do it. At the end of the day , who cares if it's not pleasurable, at least something happened and made my day more eventful.
People often worry that if they say yes they will become trapped in something long term - like pushing off at the top of a water slide. Once you're going, you're pretty much going to the end regardless of what you think about it. But in most of life, saying yes doesn't do this. You retain control and the option of saying no or doing a rethink. A yes bias is generally a good idea, at least as a way of countering the 'no bias' that depression and anhedonia often bring.
These are things I could easily find myself thinking (and have in the past). Thank you
You're welcome.
Thankyou very much. ✌️🤗❤️
Sir, you are a legend.
Both part 1 and 2 are very informative and easy to understand. I have been dealing with this feeling of blah for as long as I can remember. I only recently heard of Anhedonia and decided to look up some videos. Other videos don't seem to go over any treatment in great detail like this. Not only did you explain how to help yourself through Anhedonia but also why it helps. I found myself thinking "that's exactly what happens with me!" constantly while watching these videos. Thank you for your advice
You're welcome.
Wow you really describe what I'm thinking a lot! Subscribed!
Welcome to the vlog.
Thank you so much
Hi Doc, can you make a video on the impact of Anhedonia and loving relationships? What do we do when we feel empty towards our loved ones and our spouse? That’s tough, it makes you doubt your relationship.
I may, at some point. There's a list of topics to come, though, that will likely take me a long way into 2021. Stay tuned.
Just came from part 1. Thank you again. I hope your channel continues to grow. 🧡
Utterly brilliant & yet so simple, on this matter.
Thank you so much.
Thankyou so much for this fabulous video. It is so informative and helpful with the examples you provide of our thought processes and barriers we put up. The neuroscience behind all this is interesting too eg how thoughts just like behaviours can be seen as 'habits' (I only know this because I just did a 6 week online course) - it does help to understand the 'why'. I really appreciate your style and detailed explanations. And while change takes time we do need to be reminded of this and also to be patient (and compassionate with ourselves). Thankyou!
You're welcome. If you'd like a print version of some related ideas, my books "How to be Miserable" and "How to be Miserable in Your Twenties" are available through online booksellers. As well, there are dozens of other videos on this channel on topics related to psychology and mental health. Subscribing will get them to you as "suggestions" when you visit TH-cam.
Thank you
You have a great understanding of how we feel. I hope your advice works ...
Thank you so much for this post. It was perfectly stated and extremely helpful giving me some incite regarding my complete and utter disinterest with..well....everything.
Sorry, I had to pause to post this at 1:12… I had to laugh! You’re giving all my excuses to stay in under my blanket
You are assisting me .. Thank you
Thanks for these videos-this is some of the best advice I have seen about coping with anhedonia. I suffered from ssri induced anhedonia and apathy for 18 years. I wish someone had offered me this advice. Therapists were clueless on how to help me cope with it.
Thank you for the feedback.
Hi, just wondering if you managed to recover from it? I have ssri induced anhedonia and really struggling.
I’m up for half dome. 😎
Being a carpenter my entire life; I’m always in the moment.
Thank you for making such thorough yet concise videos. They are so helpful and you have a lovely persona x
Thank you for this. 💝
I can't thank you enough for the insight !
Please share with us your thoughts on methods that aid in shoving away Anhedonia like the TMS treatment and medications?!
The strategies that I discuss in these videos are primarily behavioural in nature; some involve the adoption of specific ways of thinking. I do not cover pharmacological or TMS-related strategies.
You are helping me accept it, it's hard but thankyou?
Best to manage this with the help of others - particularly a therapist able to help you take these and other ideas and tailor them for your particular situation.
I feel like my pssd anhedonia might be on a different level.. i can't even drink alcoholic and feel it. I can't feel any emotions, good or bad. My libiod is gone as well as my sense of touch and taste. I dont even feel like i have a soul at this point. I can't even focus on a show or anything on tv. I listen to music loudly in hopes that one day ill feel passion for it again. Only 22 days in and i feel like giving up.
@4DTravelr I'm sorry this happened to you, too. It's a horrible, inhumane, and downright cruel thing to experience. The worst part is I have a little 8yr old boy who just can't comprehend what's wrong with me. Can't even feel love when I hug my husband of 12yrs. It's the most vile thing I never knew could happen to a person.
But that's very interesting. I'll look into it. Thank you for the advice.
🙏I'm very sorry, to hear of your suffering.! I'm here because I too am suffering terribly from depression and anxiety and insomnia over a life altering traumatic event, that lead to total loss. Anhidonia is pure torture!!... I don't know how to handle this. I force!! Myself to just go for a walk!!?? ... and with no enjoyment. I used to be so happy, busy, and full of life and desires. Now I'm stuck in apt., with no life,.. and no pleasure... my mental and physical health are declining ... but, with this depression,... how to get better is a catch 22, you cannot feel happiness in doing anything that will help... even therapy hasn't helped..... I don't want to take medications... so ... I don't know how to survive this. 🙏😟... sorry for venting . I feel bad that's why,. And we share this. 🙏for you.
@@gemini-vibes6118I'm also sorry to hear of your suffering. I too noticed when I hug my son... the normal extreme love I uses to feel is gone 😢.. that is so unbearable. I had an extremely stressful event that made me loose everything, including my career job. I cannot believe I'm not working no more. It was my 2nd family and I loved it. Didn't realize how connected I was... structure, identity, purpose, social interaction, etc... im suffering from bad depression. I miss my life as before.... 🙏for us..
My late husband and I shared a love of trad jazz. He died just over 20 years ago and I still could listen to his records until lock down.
(have suffered from anhedonia for decades) nowadays... nothing. No excitement from the happy music, just nothing. Can't be bothered to play them now. In fact no music at all. I will try his suggestion of 5 minutes at one time.
I did 5 minutes reading today and ENJOYED it. Now looking forward to reading for 5 minutes tomorrow! 😊
Thank you very much
Great presentation. Simple Advice and about doing the process not Expecting an immediate feeling or outcome. Bring the body and the mind will follow
The videos are a bit long, but the challenging concept of "doing it because you're doing it" and getting rid of the focus on outcome ("doing so that I'll feel differently") is an essential one - and often difficult to get across in a way that's comprehensible.
I have ADHD and I noticed I was losing interest in things, so not only are the boring things difficult to start on so are the things i found interesting, some things can still get me interested especially if it's something new. I thought I must have depression now I realise it's anhedonia, it can get mixed in with adhd and a lot of things I wasn't good at so didn't continue or just lost interest over time, so there isn't much I enjoy
You are the best!
Does this lack of feeling ever go away?
Thank-you! It all makes sense-to ME . I get it. Looking back I wanted to 'stay safe' because of Covid 19. I've locked myself away.
There is a parallel here for people who really don't have anhedonia as well. Covid imposed a lot of lifestyle changes, causing people to give up many of the things that used to give them joy - inviting friends over, travel, sports, planning social events, and so on.
As things ease up, they do something that feels intuitively obvious: "I'll start doing that stuff again the moment I feel the impulse or desire." What a lot of people are noticing is that the desire just isn't coming back. "Huh. I guess I don't like that stuff any more." The trick is to get desire out of the equation. "I used to like the volleyball team, so I'll go even though I'm not thrilled by the thought." Action first, desire second.
Again, this isn't at all the intensity or level of aversion that true anhedonia can bring - but the principle is similar. "I will do these things based on my knowledge of my self and my past, not because I feel drawn to them at the moment." Obviously it may then turn out that our interests have moved on. Whereas once long ago the thought of spending a weekend without once going to a club was unthinkable, now I would pay good money not to be dragged to one.
you are amazing!! teacher!!!
Thank you 👍
You are welcome.
Isn’t this the same as crippling anxiety?
No, anxiety and anhedonia are distinct experiences, though they may co-appear.
is there a difference between anhedonia and emotional blunting? i feel like i may be experiencing the latter as even negative emotions seem to be non-existent. negative social media comments don't bother me anymore when they used to anger me, reading articles of terrible things happening to innocent people or kids suffering from leukemia used to make me sooo sad and now i feel nothing and just keep scrolling. i know this isn't me and i want my old brain back
The phenomena are somewhat related, though anhedonia is more of a specific lack of emotional “lift” from doing things that ordinarily would provide it. A more general blunting or flattening of all emotion, welcome and uncomfortable, can be a presentation of depression or many other conditions, including some med effects. Best to raise this with a clinician who knows your situation - the prescriber if you suspect a medication link.
How do you know the difference between anhedonia and grief?
Anhedonia is a symptom, grief is a reaction to loss. During grief, activities that normally would give one pleasure may no longer do so, suggesting the presence of anhedonia as one of the aspects of the grief response. But anhedonia (like fever) appears in many different types of situation: grief, depression, post-withdrawal from substances, and more.
@@RandyPaterson thank you for the response. Question is, due to my father’s passing in 2022, followed by my own illness which I am told is resulting in my life ending sooner than later, along with a handful of other complications in life, may I just be experiencing the grief due to so much loss?
I was wondering also....
My career job loss of 25 yrs, had destroyed my existence.
I m really suffering so badly.
I don't want to do anything or go anywhere.
I force myself to do thinghs. Sometimes they seem fun ...for amoment ...and then I ho tumbling down into darkneas ...it is getting worae and worse ...even though I tried professional help ...
I am very grateful for your practical advice on overcoming anhedonia. I am unclear on one thing: when you describe the feeling of not enjoying an activity that one used to enjoy, what does that mean? Do most people actively disliking it, are just neutral and uninterested in it, or are they very bored by it? Boredom is what I've been experiencing and I'm just trying to understand how others experience anhedonia. Thank you.
Anhedonia, as usually conceived, is a failure to be lifted by things that once did so. So it's generally a sense of blahness. I'm hanging out with friends, but I might as well be sitting alone doing nothing.
In many cases people report a sense of boredom, much like they would more commonly feel when sitting alone on the couch for an extended time. In those situations the boredom isn't a surprise so people don't see it as a problem. When they're cycling (which let's imagine they used to like) it's a violation of expectations and therefore more memorable.
Boredom may be a hint, however, that emphasizing the mindfulness elements of these activities may be helpful - by which I don't mean meditation really. Cycling may not be that interesting in part because the person isn't THERE on the bike. They're distracted, thinking about other things (generally not happy ones), and get bored of their own minds.
Emphasizing the ideas of coming back to the sensory present (colour of light on trees, feeling of muscles moving, sound of traffic or voices nearby) repeatedly may push the "immersive" aspects of the experience a bit more. Generally the more "present" we are with an activity, even dishwashing, the less boring it can seem - which is a bit counterintuitive because you might think that dishwashing + ruminative worry would be more engaging than dishwashing alone. Not the case, apparently.
For me, the example of playing a video game or watching Netflix as what you would’ve been doing instead of the thing that takes initiative doesn’t really ring true. For me, it takes massive motivation to watch a show on Netflix or play a video game. Things like going to the gym or walking outside come far more naturally because to me it’s more like a daily routine like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, so it doesn’t take extra motivation. Playing a video game or watching Netflix is something I assume is supposed to be fun, but given the fact that it’s such a time investment (a workout can be 30 minutes to an hour and a walk can be like 10 minutes) and that I don’t find myself enjoying it makes it super discouraging. As a result, “giving in” when it comes to Netflix or video games would just be not watching or playing at all. Yes, I’ve found myself at a point in my life where video games and TV seems like a daunting, insurmountable task, but working out almost everyday is as simple as taking a shower. Anhedonia destroys the pleasure and ease in things that are supposedly mindless and lazy.
When people reach the end of life, one of the things they do NOT say is “My life would have been so much more fulfilling had I spent more of it watching Netflix or playing video games.” Indeed, the activities you report having a hard time doing are those people often look back on as a waste of human life. So if you will forgive me, I tend to hear this as “I have no difficulty eating a diet of fruit and vegetables but, unlike Divine in the John Waters classic, I just can’t seem to choke down dog poop.” This is not really a problem.
That said, reading between the lines it seems to me you must be using Netflix and video games as a metaphor for leisure more generally, which may indeed be an anhedonia-related issue. If one were to attempt to work on this, I would recommend graduated intentional exposure practice with activities that are both leisure/pleasure oriented and that one would look back on with satisfaction for having done.
I think loneliness caused by anxiety and antidepressants did this to me
I have anhendonia and i have to go to school four months cause of the summer and four months to do activities. I think that the fact i don't communicate with many people plays a role. Is it true or I'm making fake hopes for me to get better?
Great video. But what about when you have outgrown what you used to like but you consciously don’t want to cringe doing them but in parallel you don’t know what new direction to go? Thanks.
Cringing suggests shame, which is always a good signal for conscious re-evaluation. Is this interest truly shameful according to the values you hold, or is it only that we fear the judgement of others? If life is guided by the latter, it tends to get less satisfying. We do outgrow some of our interests. There are many strategies to find new ones. Here are two:
1. Set aside enjoyment ("What would I find fun?") and ask about your values ("What do I think is important" or "What would I like my contribution to the world be?"). Many of our past enjoyments are purely receptive (TV shows, roller coasters, etc), which can give a certain amount of hedonistic pleasure but little deeper resonance to life. Investigating values can be helpful.
2. Be less discriminating. Try a wide variety of new things, adopting a policy of relative openness (avoiding the stupid or dangerous). Most will not be 'hits.' Some may be. Sometimes the pleasures of life thin out because we are trying to get the same juice out of a limited number of old oranges.
@@RandyPaterson thanks you for your reply. This is really insightful. I think that my limitation is the realistic thought of the tragedy of the human existence, that eventually no matter what we do we will die.There are different approaches to distract ourselves from this ie religion, work, family, trips, anything everyone chooses to believe in or invest their life in order to be distracted. When I took a step back and looked my life and realised how caught up I had been with work, business, hobbies, but at the end of the day aren’t all these distractions? Are we here eventually to spend some years distracted by the distractions we choose to distract ourselves?
I had anhedonia and I lost all the feelings and love I had for my partner my psychiatrist gave me antidepressants I'm taking those pills and now I feel relaxed I dnt get anxious I go out enjoy with my frnds but still those feelings and love Haven't come back will u tell me how much time it takes to get back to complete normal like a person was before getting anhedonia
There is no way to predict how long the recovery of enjoyment will take. I believe that it can be very helpful to have an experienced counselor who can tailor ideas to a person's own very individual experience, however. A registered healthcare professional who actually knows you and the specifics of your situation is always a better bet than "some guy on youtube who knows nothing about me."
@@toxicdrug3690 no
@@RandyPaterson i am a member of a Facebook group titled "Anhedonia, let's feel good again," and based on many of our group members' disappointing experiences with therapists not understanding how to treat anhedonia, your advice is way ahead of the curve. Pretty good for a "random guy on the internet"!
If i am focus on the water on my skin how am i present at the party? How is this different than being distracted by something else?
When we are distracted, it is most often by something that resides entirely within our own minds. We are with friends and begin thinking of work tomorrow, or our financial situation, or those medical tests we haven’t got back yet, or what these people might be thinking of us in the invisible recesses of their minds. By returning to our sensory reality - even a small bit of it, like the sensation of water on our hand - we are attending to something real and present. By practicing the return to the sensory present, we can get better at it. We can recognize more quickly when we have voyaged off into outer space or the imaginary future, and more readily return to the less dramatic, less scary, actuality of our life in the moment.
. That was well said....very REAL
going on a trip to a pretty place with nice weather,,, beats anhedonia fast
Until it doesn’t anymore…
I'm coming off opiates after a relapse, the ahedonia is overwhelming at points.
This can be a bit like adapting to a darkened room after being in blinding sunlight - there seems to be no light at all, but gradually the eyes learn to compensate and develop the capacity to perceive. Eventually there is no sense of the room being dim. I'm not happy with the analogy of opiates to sunlight, but you get the idea. Opiates are often sought precisely because they flood the reward system to the point that the activities of daily life cannot compete. Neither, ultimately, can the drugs themselves - hence the endless pursuit for that "first high" experience. Best wishes on your recovery; get support from others and hang in until you habituate to the drug's absence.
@@RandyPaterson thank you for acknowledging my comment. Feels like i have a friend to talk to :-/
11:56. This is what was the start of Anhedonia. What’s a little pleasure worth? If it’s not going to last than why bother.
This is a common concern. Every book, every movie, every party, every vacation, every job, and every person we love will, one day, end. It’s all temporary, including our youth and our life. For some this makes it all meaningless and worthless. For others, it is this very ephemerality that makes it precious. Knowing that it will end does not mean that we should not act to enable it to begin.
@@RandyPaterson Thank you. Your insight is appreciated. Just a day after watching your videos on Anhedonia I’ve already went for a short bike ride and fooled around with my legos. Haven’t done either of those in nearly a year. Being in the moment and remembering that everything doesn’t have to be “productive,” in the adult sense, is refreshing.
Also showed your videos to my spouse and she recognized some of the symptoms in herself. She’s committed to working on it with me. So thankful for your videos!
when I say yes when I'm feeling no, it never goes well. So,,, NO.
My depression (wich included the symptom of anhedonia) had a clear cause in my life... getting a job that I hated. Only after quitting that job I started to feel pleasure again in my life...So maybe anhedonia can be cured by curing the cause of the depression instead of treating the symptom itself.
Where the cause can be dealt with, that’s at least part of an optimal approach. Sometimes the anhedonia lifts as a result, sometimes not. A big part of the problem is that the capacity for enjoyment typically returns sooner than the drive to participate in those activities. Rather than waiting for interest, doing what one used to enjoy can help kickstart the motivation.
I wonder if my depression/anhedonia is caused by my job that I hate.... but I can't bring myself to leave due to anxiety in multiple ways.
I've been in therapy for years and we still haven't been able to shake the anhedonia :(
I hope one day I'll be able to leave my job, and I hope things feel better. Hope is all I have that one day things won't feel like this.
What advice for life-long anhedonia?
People do seem to vary in their emotional responsivity. Some oscillate wildly from highs to lows in response to events. Others are less affected by what happens in the moment. I think it helps to recognize what our own "usual" emotional variability is, and use that as a baseline. Maybe a hockey game gets a buddy standing and screaming with enthusiasm from the stands, but we have never been a person who gets that charged up about anything. Fine. But what are the things that produce those milder upward oscillations that we do experience?
I also think that anhedonia is a bit of an oversimplified concept. It tends to lump all positive emotion into "hedon." In reality, of course, there are many shadings and variations of positive emotion: adrenaline-fueled excitement, calm satisfaction, a sense of emotional connection or "resonance," a sense of reward from being of use to others, a sense of solidity from living out our values, and much more. We may feel we should have more of one of these, like our friends, but we may have greater access to others.
Is any medication really helpfull to deal with anhedonia? I've experience anhedonia for almost 2 years
As a psychologist I don't prescribe, and so I don't have too much to say about medication. I do believe that medication is seldom a complete treatment for mood difficulties - usually some other changes need to take place as well. For anhedonia, the strategies given in these videos appear to be helpful in many cases, particularly when the anhedonia is fairly clearly a symptom of the mood problem and not a reaction to other factors (like an organic difficulty or a side effect of treatment).
Ssris can cause long term apathy and anhedonia, years after stopping the drug and having healed the liw mood.
It's really difficult to start an activity and keep it in long term... but I keep trying, hopefully I can be at least beneficial for my family...
🙏
it feels weird feeling nothing
I feel like even trying to enjoy myself is wasted time. Then I feel foolish for wasting that time and energy.
Snow shoeing lesson? It’s 110 degrees in my town lol.
I have every confidence in your ability to translate this into something appropriate for your locale.
@@RandyPaterson yeah but then my joke wouldn’t have been as funny.
Just chant Hare Krishna
10:10 stop reading my mind!!
Basically subgoals
You are clueless on this. This is just a list of things that sound nice and effective. Ive done every single one of them for extended periods, and it never goes away. The only times it stops, is periodical and seemingly completely random. Time on its own, is what actually fixes it. Nothing else works. Its a devastating conclusion to come to for me, but I have been forced to accept it after all these years. You are just telling people to suffer even more by forcing themselves to do these things just because they believe it will end quicker as a result of them. It does not, tragically
The "El Dorado" for mental health researchers and practitioners is to find a strategy or medication that works reliably for 100% of the people who experience a problem. Unfortunately we are still waiting. The strategies listed here are those most often recommended and found helpful. Anhedonia tends to promote inertia and withdrawal, which magnify both anhedonia and, more broadly, depression. Graduated re-engagement while cultivating equanimity and working against immediate expectation is a form of behavioural activation that seems to be the primary nonpharmacological path out of anhedonia. Given the impact this problem has on people, I am extremely open to additional or alternative approaches that may be effective for an even larger proportion of people, however.
Interesting..
I too have been trying to do, activities _ hobbies I used to love.! Still.. no desire, no joy, no pleasure. .... I ended up , giving up. My situation is worse. I'm almost bed ridden. I just hate being like this.!
and what if you have no life? oh and health care professionals are useless, i have been asking for help for months and have still gotten no where. friends family services, on one will help and i cant take much more of nothing.
I feel the same,
I've talked to everyone also.
I've called VA crisis line, warm lines, psychologist, and 988.
... still,... im suffering
Can this help for people who quit using marijuana for over a year. My feelings never came back.
There is no way to know whether these ideas will work for any particular person. If they have a registered health professional to provide guidance, this is best. For most people this is an empirical question, the answer to which will be revealed once the strategies have been tried (on an ongoing basis, given that none of them evaporate anhedonia at one go).
Hey let's try heroin 2:04
I have zero patience, i fast forwarded through this video. I cant listen to waffle.