'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQG/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAKtQW//EAB8QAAICAgEFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQAIRMFBxGRsf/aAAgBAQABPwDt3ds9Uo3Lli0HSR04o1UqIl4I2K+2ONXZiW8zb3qVgPuf/8QAFhEAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIx/9oACAECAQE/AFh//8QAFBEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP/aAAgBAwEBPwB//9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
What is Anhedonia? If you feel like you’re losing interest in anything or everything and whatever you liked doing once doesn’t excite you anymore, then you’re suffering from a mental disorder called anhedonia. It is a common symptom of major depressive disorder.
If you’re a victim of this, you will not enjoy or get pleasure from anything. You will feel numb most of the time and look at things negatively, which can impact your quality of life and put you in depression and loneliness.
What is anhedonia?
It is a condition in which a human being suffers from an inability or reduced ability to feel pleasure, as they tend to lose interest in activities they once liked in the past. Activities like watching a movie, eating, playing, engaging in conversation or anything fun-related that can give you a sense of pleasure do not make a person happy when they have anhedonia.
What are the causes of anhedonia?
People who suffer from major depressive disorders because of trauma are often seen to suffer from this condition. If someone is suffering from mental illnesses, has a history of alcohol overuse, and has suicidal tendencies, it can lead to anhedonia.
Drug use, conditions like depression, Parkinson’s, diabetes, binge eating, autism, bipolar disorders or chronic illnesses ( mostly cancer and heart disease) can be the causes too.
What are its types?
Now that we know what is anhedonia, let us now look at its types:
1. Social anhedonia
In this type, the person usually loses interest in socializing with people and has no interest in talking, making conversations, or discussing things with people.
2. Physical anhedonia
When someone loses interest in physical activities or things like eating, hearing music, playing, or engaging in sexual activities, it can be because they have physical anhedonia.
Major symptoms
- No social life and relations.
- Preferring to stay alone most of the time
- Finding it hard to express in public
- Faking expressions
- Decreased or complete loss of libido
- Acting unsocial
- Suicidal thoughts and tendencies
How to treat this condition
You have to seek help from a mental health professional and treat the underlying cause of your condition to win over anhedonia. Medications like antidepressants or anesthetic ketamine can help, but you must first consult a psychologist or a therapist who has a specialization in this field.
Talk therapy can help you as in this form of therapy, the participant is given weekly tasks to fight their lack of motivation and engage in activities to socialize with people again.
If you feel like you’re suffering from anhedonia then you should always seek help and design a treatment course so that you get your motivation back and start enjoying things that you always liked. What is life if you do not enjoy it?
We only have one life so appreciate every moment of it, make friends, and do things that make you happy. Do not let anhedonia take your happiness and willingness to live away from you. Beat it today by talking to someone about it.
