Do you know the state when every day nothing pleases you, even your usual favorite things, and the whole world seems to be painted in gray colors?
Perhaps you are just overworked and not getting enough sleep, and you should take a break and rest.
Maybe you just have an autumn blues, which will pass in a week or two.
Or perhaps you have become a victim of anhedonia. So, it's time to sound the alarm and pull yourself out of the above disorder, which, like depression, may not go away on its own.
How can you tell anhedonia from the usual blues? Why does it arise? And how to deal with it? Look for answers in the article on estet-porta.com.
1. Anhedonia: what are the types and symptoms
2. Causes of occurrence and development of anhedonia
3. How to deal with anhedonia
Anhedonia: what are the types and symptoms
The very term "anhedonia" first used in his writings by the French philosopher and psychologist Theodore-Armand Ribot at the end of the 19th century.
A word that is translated from Greek as "without pleasure" (an hedone), Ribot identified a syndrome that accompanies many mental disorders (depression is one of them).
As you can easily guess from the translation of the Greek name of this syndrome, anhedonia (to put it quite simply) is the loss of joy and the ability to enjoy life or its individual manifestations.
Often, when everyday life loses its color and taste, people attribute it to fatigue and problems. After all, few people would think to go to the doctor with sadness and apathy, right?
Alas, this is wrong, because anhedonia is considered a full-fledged disease, and may be a sign of more serious diseases – for example, depression, which does not go away on its own, but can easily get worse.
Today, there are several main types of anhedonia:
1. Social Anhedonia;
2. physical anhedonia;
3. intellectual-aesthetic anhedonia.
In the first case, the person loses interest in communicating with others – even close people and friends. His social interactions begin to fade rapidly, because he is not pleased with either compliments, or praise addressed to him, or his success in society. A person ceases to strive to set goals and achieve them, or at least qualitatively improve his life.
In the second case the person ceases to be pleased with the stimulation of his senses – pleasant aromas, delicious food, touching and caresses (including, intimacy – this is called orgasmic anhedonia).
The third type of anhedonia affects all areas of interest and hobbies that were previously of interest to the patient. It can be any kind of art, listening to your favorite music, reading books, etc. Everything that used to please the aesthetic senses ceases to hurt them.
The symptoms of anhedonia are directly related to its types:
- a person begins to experience difficulties in communicating with any people (even relatives) and avoid society, as well as any contacts, which leads to voluntary social isolation
- a person seeks solitude, especially often indoors (for example, in his room);
- a person refuses from habitual hobbies and interests that no longer cause him pleasure;
- the person tries to avoid new emotions, unusual actions, or unusual activities;
- sense of humor and reaction to jokes disappears;
- mass gatherings and holidays become a burden;
- blurring the line between positive and negative events – they all seem equally devoid of meaning and evoke no emotion;
- the patient with anhedonia has no reactions to the manifestation of attention, care and affection from the surrounding people;
- disturbed biological clock.
Anhedonia sneaks up unnoticed. When a person gets used to the symptoms, he begins to independently destroy feelings of happiness and pleasure in himself, and anhedonia turns into a vicious circle, from which it is difficult to get out alone.
Causes and development of anhedonia
Anhedonia can manifest itself both in overactive people who burn out at work, and in melancholic people who are prone to blues and depression.
Main causes of anhedonia:
- mental disorders (including severe — post-traumatic disorder, depression and schizophrenia);
- innate pessimism;
- social phobia;
- hormonal disorders;
- high pace of life and chronic stress;
- workaholism and professional burnout;
- insomnia and lack of sleep;
- neuroses.
It is important to realize that anhedonia can also be caused by such personal qualities of responsible and conscientious people as focusing on failures and their own shortcomings, the desire to solve all problems on their own, being afraid to ask for help.
In this case, a person constantly scrolls the negative in his head, being in a state of chronic stress. The emotional background decreases, the mood is suppressed. As a result – lack of joy hormones endorphins.
Interestingly, the stress of too much hard work is less likely to cause anhedonia in men than in women.
Men are more likely to be able to endure the workaholic rhythm (55 hours a week) without the risk of developing the syndrome.
Women only need to slightly exceed the classic workload of 40 hours a week – and the risk becomes very high. This is due to hormonal fluctuations in the female body, which aggravate the disorder.
How to deal with anhedonia
If you have been suffering from the symptoms of anhedonia for more than two weeks and cannot get out of its networks on your own, then it is better to consult a psychotherapist without waiting for a crisis. During the conversation, the doctor will diagnose the disorder and prescribe treatment.
Usually, the treatment is quite long (depending on the complexity of the course of the disorder). In addition to psychotherapeutic methods, the doctor can prescribe the latest generation of medications to the patient, which have a minimum of side effects.
Medicines are selected by the doctor for the patient strictly individually, so it is strictly forbidden to try to prescribe pills for yourself!
It is also recommended to accompany the treatment process with self-study.
For example, you should always try to concentrate on positive emotions. You can write yourself a whole list of dozens of pleasures and do several things from this list every day. It can be reading books, watching comedies, going to an exhibition or theater, shopping, walking in the park, picnicking in nature, listening to fun music, etc. Each list will be individual.
It is also obligatory to correct day regimen, strict observance of the regime of work and rest, as well as a special diet.
The daily regimen implies at least 8 hours of healthy sleep at night and the habit of going to bed and getting up at the same time.
Work and rest schedule – this is no more than 8 hours of working time (with mandatory short breaks for rest) and mandatory time for yourself in the morning and evening. Time for yourself should include active recreation (sports, dancing, any physical activity that is fun) and hobbies.
A special diet does not mean cutting back on your diet – just the opposite. With anhedonia, a full-fledged diet and the use of foods rich in the natural antidepressant serotonin (bananas and other fruits, dark chocolate, nuts, mushrooms, cheese, liver, fatty fish) are indicated.
Anhedonia – it is not just a fleeting state. This is a disorder that requires serious treatment and a responsible approach to cure.
However, if the patient is aware of the problem and wants to get rid of it – This is already the beginning of the path to a successful cure. Do not let yourself lose the pleasure of life and leave your world gray and dull forever!
Love yourself, appreciate and take care of yourself!
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