Coping with Anhedonia, Part Two

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 a second set of five tips for working through anhedonia and regaining pleasure in life.

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#anhedonia #depression

[richardwintersteen]

This has completely changed how I approach my entire life! Thank you!

[graceharney]

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.

[daviddillard]

Fantastic video! Very helpful information and tools. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise.

[ashdot]

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.

[nistradannistradan]

Thank you so much for this video - very helpful!

[healthpunktv]

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 YouTube-video, but here I had to write sth... :-)

Cheers from Munich! Hanjo

[pippa]

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

[Sadbuttrue-ThatSwedishGirl]

Your delivery on this heavy & sad subject is awesome!😂Thank you!❤️

[DAClub-ufbr]

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.

[beatle]

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.

[earthworldadventurer]

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…

[Renee]

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. 💗

[chuck]

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.

[viddy]

Sir from the bottom of my heart, thank you

[danielroux]

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.

[flip]

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...

[joost]

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

[sidzafar]

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!

[marinawilkinson]

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. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🥰

[aleksandravoojchyk]

This calmed me down and might help me sleep tonight thank you. Now I know it's possible to get better