Coping with Anhedonia, Part One

Anhedonia is the inability to find interest or pleasure in once-enjoyed activities. An earlier post of mine describing the problem led to many requests that I address strategies for coping with anhedonia. Although no video is therapy and I cannot address anyone's particular concerns, there are some widely-used principles. In this video I discuss the first five of ten tips for working through anhedonia and regaining pleasure in life.

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#anhedonia

[jungefrau]

I've always been a very disciplined person, so even with anhedonia I exercise, clean, study, etc. I feel like a dead person pretending to be alive.

[bailey]

It’s like my soul left my body. I am completely hollow inside. The only thing left of me is this knowledge that my life is almost over. Everything is dark and bleak and empty.

[salauoluwatomiiwo]

1. Structure to activities - Goals, physical exercise
2. Inventory past pleasures -
3. Get interest out of the driver’s seat - intentions, aspirations, what you need to get done
4. Scale down with acceptance - do things at a smaller scale and accept that the smaller scale is a necessary prerequisite to greater steps
5. Don’t watch how you feel - enjoyment will come gradually, do the things you used to enjoy regardless of how you feel at the beginning, do until you feel it

[jjgalletta]

My initial reaction is to crap all over this stuff. I’ve been depressed for the last 10 years and have been living with anhedonia for much (if not all) of it. No Zoloft — I’m totally white-knuckling it. This video and part deux have brought me the most comfort thus far. Big up’s to you for inspiring the uninspirable. 👍

[NegativeMass]

Struggling with this since the Covid lockdowns. 2020 was a game-changer. Up to that point, I was slim, enjoyed hiking, metal festivals, my friends, music, and painting. But everything changed that year. I lost a colleague, my stepfather, and my favourite metal guitarist (not from Covid). A year later, my best friend and I parted ways. And then there was the trauma of life shutting down for two years. Unseen powers ripped the carpet out from under all of us. They stole everything we once enjoyed, and we couldn't stop them, or fight back. There was nowhere to escape. We had no control over our own lives anymore. Control was being dictated to us. Our lives were theirs to take, at will. My fellow humans became unrecognizable. Their hysteria, cult-like obedience, and open hostility to anyone who asked valid questions. I'd never seen such large swaths of people behave like this, except in movies. I shut down. If they can take away everything I enjoy on a whim, then I just won't enjoy anything anymore. Exercising the last scrap of power I have left. I just want to stay home now, alone, where I feel safe. I've gained a huge amount of weight and avoid going out. People scare me now. Feel like I'm just waiting for death.

[nicoledischiavi]

I’m struggling with this so deeply.. everything I do hobby wise I always find myself saying “what’s the point of doing thing?.. wow I’m painting a picture big deal.. it just feels like work now” 😔 everything I use to enjoy feels like a chore and it all feels so numb and pointless ..

[yuyukawa]

I don't know what's wrong with me. I've had anhedonia for over a year, but I've been exercising, I've been volunteering, I have a good relationship with someone I love, I am really investing in my studies and doing well. However, none of it feels like anything to me. I feel hopeless about the future. I feel like I am going nowhere and everything I do is a waste of time. I struggle to watch videos or play games or anything without a forced structure because a few minutes in I'm like "what's the point". I buy myself bubble tea and hang out with friends in hopes that the next one maybe will finally feel good but it doesn't.

I can't even remember what it felt like to be happy. I know there were moments in the past but I can't even imagine what I felt like.

[jeffyg]

I’ve been sober just over a year.. did therapy, all of it. From outside I have the life.. beautiful family, home, health, job etc. yet I feel empty. This video is spot on. And strangely these comments have given me comfort. I’m good with sobriety but I need to find joy within myself again. He said it’s feeling blah.. that resonates so profoundly.

[hjyfhri]

My anhedonia comes in waves with my bipolar disorder. For me a big part of it is reminding myself that i don't suddenly hate the things i once loved. Whats happening is just a flare up, like seasonal allergies.

[yahya-s-ahmed]

Feels like this is never gonna reverse
I want my good days back😭😭

Plz God

[pippa]

This is probably the most helpful advice I’ve gotten for getting out of this anhedonia I’ve been stuck in for years. All those excuses he uses? I’ve said them all. But then I stopped doing the activity because I felt what was the point. Now I know to keep at it

[ThisisMingus]

Thank you so much for making this video. I don't have energy to seek help from a therapist or from "the outside" in general so this is a great starting point for me.

[shiftassist]

Thank you for the information. I will keep the points in mind. I am glad I found this video. I did not know this condition existed until these past 6 months when I have been in absolute emptiness of joy or pleasure…what a horrific way to be alive. But this video has validated my “forcing” myself to workout and go out with friends when I am invited…even if I feel empty.

[cathykeith]

Can’t even remember what I used to enjoy. Feel nothing. Can’t function

[carrie-joylloyd]

Elderly and alone with nobody. No energy and in pain. I cannot do this. I hope that some people will benefit from your advice. I'm in UK.

[finchdearest]

I'm in the comment section of this video because I have felt practically hollow for way too long. For literal years I haven't been able to feel any positive way towards my old hobbies, and my love for new hobbies fizzles out far too quickly. It's been the exact same way with people, where I want to be their friend for a few days cause I think they're cool, but then I just... ditch them because I can't find the willpower to hold a conversation with them anymore. Anhedonia's got a hold of me by the hair, and I'm worried that it's never letting go.

[dherman]

Anhedonia is the worst thing ever.
I recognize it's irrational. I spent 3 months in bed. Ruminating, catastrophizing beyond comprehension. Tried everything. Countless therapy videos, research. Visits to my therapist and GP who is also a good psychologist. Calls with loving church members, my parents. Lexapro, Trazadone, Buspirone. All of these things have helped to varying degrees. The guilt that I'm bringing down my family and the people around me have increased the Anhedonia. Went to an animal park with my family and it was excruciating, I rushed my family. All I wanted to do was get back in bed. Then I went to Wal Mart after a good therapy session. I forced myself to greet people with kindness as I walked past them or shopped next to them. The vibes I got back from them lifted my mood. I was onto something. Long story short. Now I'm an Uber driver. The kindest one in the world. It's the best therapy I've ever had. My rating is 4.99 out of 5. Your videos are spot on sir! God Bless You!

[DogOfEgypt]

My anhedonia has developed for well over two years. This helped me a lot. It gave me motivation to try my best to get out of this hole before I let myself get buried in it.

[holdenc]

This is exactly where I’m at. I work an absolutely terrible job that pays well so I’m stuck trying to hang on for retirement. I can’t sleep, I’m exhausted all the time and have trouble focusing on hobbies or chores I am behind on. Friends are all gone and disappeared living their lives and involved in their kid’s activities. I just don’t care anymore. Nothing interests me anymore and I just feel sad and numb. I forced myself to take a vacation recently. It was ok, but now I’m back at this job and the cycle of misery starts all over. The work and life balance is completely off in this country for so many people.

[김태형-zd]

thankyou for sharing this, im still 18 and this pandemic makes my life feel more empty. i tried doing different hobbies to have something to be obsessed about but it just never work, i always give up at the end. even drawing used to be my serotonin booster so i entered design major but now it feels like a chore.

and it kinda turns me into a porn addict, just for a rush of dopamine or whatever hormon it is, but it only makes me feel worse.

what makes it even more worse is that this guilty feeling for not doing anything, i compare myself with others who have less privilege than me but theyre making a progress yet im still stuck feeling useless. thats why i always have the urge to learn or have something to obsessed about. its like a loophole, i hate this feeling. i want to have, at least, a tiny fire in me

sorry for the random vent. thats all