Experiences with anhedonia?

Hi, I'm curious about other people's experiences with anhedonia, and possibly a recovery story if you have one. I have had it for just under 7 months after an experience in the psych ward and being put on lithium and risperidone. I am not entirely sure what the culprit is, or if its from a combination of factors. But I hate it and hope to a god I'm not sure I believe in, that I recover from it. I was a musician before this hit me. Any stories and theories for the causes of it, would be appreciated.

Well... I've never been diagnosed as having anhedonia. But I certainly have experienced all of the symptoms. I read that anhedonia often accompanies depression, which is certainly something I have struggled with... along with anxiety, anger issues & some other stuff. I've taken antidepressants for various lengths of time over the years & I've tried seeing a few therapists. None of it ended up being of any great benefit to me I didn't feel.

Unfortunately, I don't know as there is any great answer to any of this. In my case, I find it's just a constant effort I have to put forth every day to fight my predilection to just sink into ennui & drown. Many years ago, my father used to say: "You're not required to like it. You're just required to do it." I take this as my mantra. I've had to find a couple of things to pursue that are of sufficient interest to me that I'm willing to put forth the effort to pursue them, which I do. Am I in love with them? No, not really. But they're of sufficient interest that I'm willing to keep at them & doing so helps to keep me going.

One thing I don't have, or do, that probably would be of benefit to me, is that I don't have any significant contact with other people who share my interests. Over the years, I've become a very solitary person. And even though I know it might be beneficial to get out & be with other people, I choose not to. But I think it can be important, especially for a person who is involved in creative activities, to have the opportunity to spend time with other people who share similar interests. Doing so, I presume, would create opportunities to both feed off of other peoples' creative energy & enthusiasm as well as to support them in their efforts & to generate new ideas for creative projects. I don't know if this is something you're doing but, as a musician, I would think it could be really beneficial to be out playing with & otherwise being in touch with other musicians. The one thing I do feel confident in saying is that what you are experiencing is not likely to simply go away by itself. In one way or another, you have to make it happen.

Well, it's a day where I am well rested and I'm listening to music and...nothing. I hate it.

I have no answers, but I had to say how I hope this changes for you soon. I'm not a musician, but have always had a deep love for and appreciation of music. More than that, it was a "nerve pill" for me--always calming and healing...a different genre to fit my moods.

What happened for me after my psychotic break was that listening to music became a trigger, so that while I was enjoying a song immensely, I would be triggered by the lyrics--or even by a vivid memory associated with the song and have to stop listening abruptly.

Time alone has eased this somewhat. I have days that I can push through and listen for awhile and--like the quote: suffer what there is to suffer; enjoy what there is to enjoy. It makes for a much sadder world to me.

Music used to give me something to hang on to. Now, I feel nauseous most every time I pick up a guitar. I appreciate this post, and can relate.

I'm in the deep, dark depths of anhedonia now. I continue to increase my isolation from the world, which i know i shouldn't but i do anyway. I think maybe it's a form of self-punishment, not allowing myself any enjoyment. I'm still writing a bit though, and that is my only salvation right now.

I just don't know what joy I can expect anymore. Every day I'm looking for meaning, joy, even sadness, and it's a frustrating struggle. I was with a friend yesterday and we were looking at paintings in a gallery. He asked me what they made me think of, and I was forced to reply 'nothing.' I have no imagination anymore.

My anhedonia was one of the first symptoms of Major Depression that I developed. It happened very gradually, but it was one of the first things that happened in a long, upsetting chain of events.

I am happy to report that it is reversible. I am an artist and a designer, and the thought of these things leaving me forever was very, very troubling to me. Things got so bad at one time, that simply picking up a pencil with an eye towards doing some sketches, made me tremble and become very panicked.

But with time, and tenacity (pushing myself to gradually bring art, and music, back into my life (at the edges, and only what I could handle), I have gotten approx. 50-75% of my joy in former pleasures back.

I credit the combination of medication and stubborn (but gentle) exposure to these things with helping me heal.

This is not a small thing---although the outside world will probably never, ever grasp what it is like for those of us who suffer through this.

Many hugs.....!

Do what you can, when you can...and be gentle with yourself.

I'm not sure if anyone is still active on this thread but thought I would give a shout out and check in to see if anyone has found anything, anything to help alleviate their anhedonia. I am truly at the end of my rope with it and don't know how I can enter another year in this state. Not only am I unable to feel any emotions at all, but I've also lost the capacity to sleep or eat. I cannot feel any hunger at all, ever, and no do not feel satisfied/satiated after I eat. Nothing tastes good or is pleasurable. The worst thing is this unbearable feeling of blankness/numbness totally washing over my brain, drowning out my pleasure receptors. It feels like my head is filled with cotton wool and nothing penetrates it. It never shuts off, even to sleep, I just lie on my bed all night waiting for my brain to cycle down into sleep patterns and it never does. Out of desperation, I've tried several different sleep meds and none of them have done a thing.

I tried to be proactive this month by joining a gym, thinking that vigorous exercise might trigger some response. It has been excruciating. I go on the treadmill or elliptical and try to give it my all but I feel no reponse in my brain or body, I don't even feel like my muscles are working or contracting, I don't feel fatigued afterward. It's the strangest sensation. I also tried acupuncture again, and the practitioner has tried several different meridians with me and it has done nothing at all. Have tried various Chinese herbs and saw an Ayurvedic doctor last week who prescribed more herbs, but they haven't touched the anhedonia at all. I honestly do not know what to try next. My psychiatrist is no help, he doesn't seem to believe in anhedonia and claims it's all in my head and I just need more talk therapy. Talking to my therapist every week is an exercise in futility because all I can do is repeat my despair at not being able to feel anything, feeling my life pass me by, feeling more and more hopeless. DBT and CBT therapy are not helpful, because they are all about exercises to regulate your emotions and I don't have any emotions to regulate.

I saw an ad for the Fisher-Wallace stimulator and wondered if anyone has tried it. I'm also curious about TMS therapy -- if that would stimulate the parts of my brain that are so completely shut down?

Are there any supplements/drugs/treatments that have worked for you? Is there hope? How do you make it through the day with severe anhedonia?

would be great to discuss, I have very similar severe synptoms. Could you send me a personal message?

hi. for me, risperidone was too much. i still needed a tranquilizer, so I was switched to Abilify. Abilify isn't perfect, but...I have -some- emotions, my concentration isn't -as- impaired, etc. I've never taken lithium, but a low level sort of dysphoria, even depression, seems to be part of the lithium experience for a lot of people.

I'm a musician also, having studied seriously for 50 years. Last year -- 2017 -- was traumatizing with three psych hospitalizations. Although my meds have largely been tapered, and I'm now on minimal maintenance dosages, I still have residual symptoms of anhedonia and haven't played my instrument for a year at least. I do expect my passion to return in time, though. Only recently I've taken up reading again, which is encouraging.

I had similar experience like you, how are you right now?

Legal psychedelics such as tryptamines (Shroom and DMT analogues), lysergics (LSD analogues) and phenylalamines (Mescaline analogues) - legal dissociatives such as phencyclidines (Ketamine analogues) and empathogenics (Such as MDMA) and its legal analogues (Benzofurans) helped me.

I would just be extremely careful with any NMDA antagonists. I was on one for over a year while the ketamine studies were being done, before it was approved. It cures depression, no doubt. But I have a good deal of experience with these drugs and they can definitely cause mania and psychosis--big-time. They're potentially super-dangerous. Careful.

I do believe lithium can aggravate anhedonia. I am a fairly accomplished guitar player and I have not picked up any of my guitars in over three years. Zero interest. I stopped listening to music a year ago, despite having incredible headphones and amps and stuff. I just made myself start listening again and I must say, I am enjoying it. So, part of it may be just forcing yourself to do things you really don't have the initiative to do and then finding that, after all, it is kinda fun. So, to me, there are two things to anhedonia. There's no initiative and then there's the actual not enjoying things once you actually do do them. Those are different. For me, the bigger problem is initiative. Which is good, because all I have to do is make myself get on the bike and then I know I will get at least some enjoyment. Just my $.02.