Known as anhedonia, this feeling can cause people to lose interest in activities they used to enjoy.
This loss of interest is known as anhedonia — a main symptom of depression. Loss of interest can be an overwhelming and far-reaching symptom that impacts your relationships with friends and family, your sexual health, work and school productivity, and hobby enjoyment.
Losing interest or pleasure in activities or people that once gave you enjoyment, may be due to overworking, relationship problems or being in a temporary rut. However, a loss of interest in many things or people, that is ongoing, can sometimes be a sign you have a mental health condition.
Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure. It's a common symptom of depression as well as other mental health disorders.
What's an Example of Anhedonia? Engaging in an activity that previously brought on a positive effect, but no longer elicits those feelings, is one example of anhedonia.
A dysphoric mood is a consistent state of profound unhappiness and dissatisfaction. Symptoms can include discontent, irritability, stress, aggression, and feelings of anger, guilt, or failure.
As mentioned, anhedonia can bring about suicidal thoughts and intents and can be very dangerous. If you suspect that you or someone you love is experiencing anhedonia, contact your primary care physician or a mental health professional as soon as possible.
Anhedonia refers to the loss of ability to feel pleasure and is a common symptom of depressive disorders and substance use disorder.
Anhedonia does not have to last forever, but it can be upsetting to lose a sense of delight in something that formerly made you happy. For some people it may feel like a transient state that may end within a few hours or days but others may experience them for weeks.
Sometimes it might be because you are just feeling uninspired. In other cases, it might mean that you've lost interest in some of your old hobbies and need to explore some new passions. But losing interest in everything can also be a sign of a mental health condition such as depression.
Oftentimes, the ways that you treat depression are also used as anhedonia treatment. People with anhedonia may try medication, therapy, new experiences, practicing mindfulness, and making sure to get proper nutrition and sleep.
Difficulty in feeling attraction to someone could be due to various factors, including sexuality, depression, side effects of medication, or a lack of confidence in the ability to choose a partner wisely. Or, it could mean you haven't found the right person to inspire feelings of sexual desire yet.
Apathy is defined as a loss of interest in relation to social or emotional situations (a state of indifferent mood). Apathy is presented as a lack of feeling, interest or any particular concern about a specific situation, or life in general.
Sometimes, apathetic feelings are a result of things we can recognize and change—for example, we're feeling bored at work or we're no longer attracted to someone we once felt attracted to. But sometimes apathy is a symptom of a larger issue we're facing, like trauma, grief, or an underlying mental health condition.
Anhedonia
Many people with a mental health condition like depression find that they lose interest in activities and sensations that used to bring them joy. This is known as anhedonia. Similar to melancholia, anhedonia can reduce your ability or inclination to express how you feel — including through crying.
The term anhedonia is derived from the Greek an-, "without" and hēdonē, "pleasure". Interest in the nature of pleasure and its absence dates back to ancient Greek philosophers such as Epicurus.
Anhedonia is commonly measured using questionnaires,18 such as the popular Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS). The SHAPS is considered “the gold standard for measuring anhedonia in depression,”18(p27) and is also frequently used to assess anhedonia in other patient groups.
Root causes
People with Cherophobia may believe that something painful must always follow something pleasurable. For example, having too much fun with friends perhaps resulted in a spell in the principal's office. Or maybe revealing a first crush to a sibling was met with ridicule.
What's avolition? Avolition is a term used to describe a significant or severe lack of motivation or a pronounced inability to complete purposeful tasks. It is a behavioral symptom rather than a mental health condition.
Anhedonia and relationships are not a good pair. This condition makes relationships difficult to develop and maintain. With the aspect of enjoyment removed, the individual may no longer wish to spend time with their friends or family.
Anhedonia, a reduced ability to experience feelings of pleasure, is a key feature of several mood and attention disorders, including MDD and ADHD.
Abstract. Anhedonia is a common symptom following traumatic brain injury. The neural basis of anhedonia is poorly understood, but believed to involve disturbed reward processing, rather than the loss of sense of pleasure.