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Mental health experts explain anhedonia và how you can bounce back from this joyless state of mind.

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Seraphina is a freelance health writer with a background as a registered dietitian. Highlights: Holds a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honors) Practiced as a dietitian for 3 years prior khổng lồ launching writing business Published health and wellbeing stories in Self, The Paper Gown, HuffPost, Well + Good, và Health" data-inline-tooltip="true">Seraphina Seow
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Seraphina is a freelance health writer with a background as a registered dietitian. Highlights: Holds a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honors) Practiced as a dietitian for 3 years prior khổng lồ launching writing business Published health and wellbeing stories in Self, The Paper Gown, HuffPost, Well + Good, và Health


Haley is a Wisconsin-based creative freelancer and recent graduate. She has worked as an editor, fact checker, & copywriter for various digital và print publications. Her most recent position was in academic publishing as a publicity and marketing assistant for the University of Wisconsin Press" data-inline-tooltip="true">Haley Mades

Haley is a Wisconsin-based creative freelancer và recent graduate. She has worked as an editor, fact checker, & copywriter for various digital & print publications. Her most recent position was in academic publishing as a publicity and sale assistant for the University of Wisconsin Press


Most of us can relate khổng lồ that occasional desire to lớn cancel a Saturday night plan in lieu of staying home to cuddle on the couch & binge Bridgerton. Or the lack of motivation khổng lồ prep dinner, even though you'd planned your favorite home-cooked meal. But sometimes, this state of mind becomes more problematic, & it can be hard lớn tell why you don't enjoy things like you once did. So what can be done if you feel dull when doing activities you used to lớn love?

The loss or decrease in the ability to lớn feel pleasure from things we once enjoyed has a name: anhedonia. While anhedonia appears to mimic boredom, it's distinct in that it's usually coupled with a loss of motivation to lớn even give things a try. A person with anhedonia feels lượt thích there's no point trying anything since nothing feels good anymore. Here's everything lớn know about anhedonia, the mental health phenomenon that might be holding you back.

What Is Anhedonia?

Anhedonia is a common symptom of mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, & posttraumatic bít tất tay disorder (PTSD). Since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a rise in these disorders, so it"s likely that anhedonia is affecting more people—and to lớn a higher degree.

But someone who hasn't been diagnosed with clinical depression can still experience situational depression or situational anhedonia, says Sigal Levy, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Miranda Nadeau, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist in Austin, Texas, agrees. "It's something a lot of people experience, at least at one point in their lives," she says.


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Why Does Nothing Feel Good Anymore?

When we look at the brain, there are regions that interact to size a reward circuit. A reward circuit tells you what is rewarding, interesting, or worthy to lớn pursue.

"If you're having someone bởi vì a task where they have the opportunity khổng lồ win money, for example, you'll see these brain regions involved in the reward circuit having functional connections with each other," says Jennifer Felger, Ph.D., an associate professor in psychiatry và behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine.

The brain regions use a chemical called dopamine lớn communicate with each other. Dopamine is used to lớn decide what's rewarding and how you want to attain it. It's also used to lớn decide whether something is threatening. Felger explains that these reward circuit regions may not interact as well with each other in people with anhedonia. And therefore, this weakened communication between regions suggests unbalanced levels of dopamine, says Tiffany Ho, Ph.D., a cognitive neuroscientist & assistant professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at UC San Francisco.

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He also says that prolonged brain and body inflammation—which is often observed in someone with depression và anhedonia after experiencing stressful events—can phối the stage for less interactive reward circuit regions.

Our Stressful World Isn"t Helping

Add to lớn this the amplification of the brain's threat circuit, which scans for things khổng lồ avoid. "Now that we have so many fearful and emotional things going on in the world, the brain is responding more and more to threats and less and less khổng lồ things that are rewarding, just based on what we're exposed to," Felger says. The reward circuit & threat circuit are constantly running in our brain, she adds, but when one is used more and takes up more brain energy, the other ends up running less efficiently.


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How to Reverse Anhedonia, One Step at a Time


Make lifestyle changes that lower inflammation & balance dopamine.

"Some individuals may have a genetic vulnerability lớn have slightly imbalanced levels of dopamine," Ho says. "But a lot of the things that help balance dopamine levels are modifiable, such as sleeping sufficiently, exercising or moving more, reducing levels of psychosocial stress, eating consistent healthy meals, & engaging in important social interactions." These lifestyle changes also lessen inflammation in the body toàn thân and brain, so prioritizing them is key.

Engaging in important social connections simply means making contact with people you feel safe with, even if you don"t feel like socializing, says Nadeau. "Oftentimes people experience anhedonia và other symptoms of depression when they feel these social connections are weak."


Treat yourself lượt thích you'd treat a best friend.

"Do anything you can khổng lồ convey to yourself that you are worthy of care and worthy of compassion," says Nadeau. You may not feel lượt thích going for a walk or socializing because it"s not going khổng lồ make you feel better, but lớn convey khổng lồ yourself that you"re worthy of care, you would ask yourself: "What would be most helpful for me right now? How can I show myself care & compassion?"

Identify thinking patterns that could be detrimental to lớn your journey lớn caring for yourself, such as a tendency for all-or-nothing thinking. All-or-nothing thinking looks like believing that in order lớn socialize, you need to have fun activities planned & conversations that flow easily the entire time, or it is not worth it. Becoming aware of this thinking pattern helps you start brainstorming what alternative thoughts might be more helpful instead & actually increase motivation.

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Keep a thought worksheet lớn investigate negative thinking.

Nadeau says people experiencing anhedonia often hold beliefs across three categories.

"You might have negative views of yourself, combined with negative views of the world, which is not surprising at the moment, combined with negative views of the future, lượt thích "it"s not going to lớn get better" or "I"m always going lớn feel this way.""

To help restructure your beliefs, Nadeau suggests keeping a thought worksheet. On a sheet of paper, write about a situation that happened, the moods you felt, and the automatic thoughts you had (either of yourself, the world, and/or the future).

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Write down evidence that supports the main, automatic thought driving the moods, và evidence that does not support it. In doing this, you are positioning yourself to reviews all the information your brain is receiving, Nadeau explains, looking not only at the negative aspects, but the neutral & positive aspects.