JannaSenior Contributor
Anhedonia
My son had a review with his psychiatrist yesterday. This is a fairly accurate snapshot of the dialogue that took place during the course of the 40 minute consult.
How have you been? OK
How is your mood? Same
What is the same, can you be a little more specific? I don’t know
Can you rate it out of 10 with 10 being good and 1 being bad? 5
So what other things have you been doing? Nothing
How is your sleep? Good
How long do you sleep for? I don’t know
Do you sleep at night? Sometimes
Do you sleep in the day? Sometimes
What about exercise, are you doing any exercise? No
Do you leave the house? No
Have you caught up with any friends? Not really
So what do you do all day? I don’t know
Are you on your computer? Yes
What do you do on that? Anything
and on it went.
Then:
Would you be interesting in attending group therapy? No
Why not? I’ve done groups before
What about exercising, like taking a walk every day? It’s boring
Well I know it’s not exciting but it’s good for you? Shrugs shoulders
How about taking a walk around the block? I’ve walked around the block before, it’s boring.
What about doing an online course? Not interested
What about doing something like cooking or helping Mum cook? Not interested.
Why? It’s boring
How often do you go out? I go to therapy every week.
Well that’s good. What are you working on in therapy? Trying to find something I like.
This went on and covered almost every conceivable idea with each and every one of them being negatively received and rejected. What came across loud and clear is that nothing whatsoever appears to ignite any interest or enthusiasm in my son.
When I returned home the word “anhedonia” suddenly came to mind (a flashback from my study days) as I was sure that this was the term to describe this state of continual displeasure that he has with almost everything. I was right. Anhedonia is the inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities. It is the opposite of hedonism which is when someone pursues pleasurable activities in a very self-indulgent way. It is one of the main symptoms of major depressive disorder and is why people with this lose interest in nearly everything - friends, hobbies, school/work, etc. After reading further into this it appears that scientific research has found differences in the brain of depressed people that confirms that their pleasure pathways to areas of the brain relating to reward and motivation do not function the same as healthy individuals and are impaired in a way that can best be described as having faulty circuitry.
For anyone dealing with depressed individuals it may be worth reading up on anhedonia as it may broaden your understanding of the disorder. It certainly reminded me that my son’s displeasure with almost everything, and lack of interest in anything, is not a conscious choice but rather a real neurobiological impairment which he is unable to control.
Janna 
