Depression: Anhedonia

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Do any of y'all have a way of coping with anhedonia?

It's very difficult for me to do anything I usually enjoy because I get no enjoyment from it. I think if I could find a way around this, the rest of my depression issues would be less of an issue because I could at least distract myself.

i can be thankful at least, that i don't have that. i want to know, if talking about it takes away some of the sting.

It's just really frustrating and somewhat painful, emotionally. It's not so much the presence of any emotion as the complete absence. The stuff I enjoy doing doesn't hold my attention or trigger the usual responses (whether I am typically aware of them or not). When I can usually lose myself in books or games or TV shows, when it's present all of these are fairly difficult because I am constantly aware of the lack of response.

It's like it switches off all of my interests, but not the desire for those interests.

so IOW it is like you have the buttons [interests] intact but when you press them nothing happens?

That is such a good analogy for what I tried to describe that I am going to steal it.

But yes, that's it. I know it is anhedonia linked to depression in this case due to all of the suicidal ideation that accompanies it.

ok, glad it was a useful tool for you. i am only trying to be helpful so if i inadvertently say something you consider "been there and done that" i hope you'll understand. but i found that the simple [but a daily discipline, rain or shine] outdoor exercise of brisk walking helped me level my moods, which are now sunny most of the time, despite having endured a fairly hairy accident [deer versus bike, i lost ] last summer that maimed me somewhat. even when i was recovering from that, the daily outdoor fresh air and sunshine seemed to have some magic sauce in it for me, for it worked in terms of pain relief as well as mental calming/clearing. another helpful thing was to eliminate white stuff [for the most part] from my diet. strictly limited refined carbs/starches, a sampling rather than a meal. eating several small meals thoughout the day also helped me stay level, for when i'd get hypoglycemic i'd be more likely to go off my rocker over silly things- the frequent small meals eliminates the hypoglycemia. i don't know what your physical limitations are, but when i couldn't walk or run a while back [i used to be heavier and my joints hurt] swimming laps in the pool did the same thing only more so. i guess weight loss was the big thing for me at that point, i just felt better physically which made me feel better mentally. i hope this ramble made sense.

It did make sense and I appreciate it. Walking is a bit rough for me, although I did manage a thirty minute walk earlier today after I got to therapy nearly an hour early. I do need to figure something out because I can't live like this.

i'm curious, how did you feel after your walk today? it was cool and damp but at least it didn't rain today in my neck of the woods. a half-hour is great! just as long as one does it as close to every day as possible.

I can't really do it every day, as fibromyalgia interferes. I can try shorter walks. The thirty minute walk was due to arriving early for therapy and walking to an AM/PM. Once I got there I couldn't decide on what I wanted to buy, so I left.

The walk itself was fine, though. There was a cold wind, but cold doesn't really bother me. Getting back inside actually left me overheated and uncomfortable for a time afterward. I walked from the same location before, to a 7-11 that was a bit farther in the other direction, and that left me in a lot of pain. I bought some kind of bizarre "pizzaroni" hotdog with cheese and pepperoni inside. That was a few months ago.

Thanks for advice and responses here. It's much appreciated.

the pizzaroni sounds yummy
wish i could get away with eating such more often. i am curious, does lyrica help with the fibro? i find that with my musculoskeletal issues, that an occasional flexeril combined with diclofen seems to take the edge of sufficient to move and sleep. swimming also loosened me up a good deal. if i ached afterwards i could dip in the jacuzzi for a bit. how i miss the YMCA.

I don't take lyrica, although I hear it helps with some people. I do not think my insurance covers it.

All I have prescribed for my fibromyalgia is flexeril. I take 2-3 at night so I don't constantly wake up in pain.

The pizzaroni was tasty, but definitely unhealthy. But if you put pepperoni in it, I might try it once because I have an unhealthy (but perfectly natural!) love for pepperoni.

i wish i could get my doc to give me more flexeril but he's afraid i will use too much of it or something. so i have to ration it out. i find that [lacking diclofen] advil works as well when combined with the flexeril [as well as some acetominophen], they form a synergy of sorts.


like what w.c. fields said, "all the good things in life are either illegal, immoral, or fattening."

Flexeril's not even that dangerous or addictive. It's been amazing for me. I hate how doctors would rather let people suffer than provide sufficient (not too much) prescriptions.



This is probably true.

have you heard of norman cousins? in 1979 he wrote a book of his experiences with self-healing, "anatomy of an illness" in which he swore by megadoses of vitamin C and laughter, to help him heal from a degenerative spinal disease. he wasn't the first to tout mind/body healing or vitamin C for what ails one, nor the last, but he was notably one of the only ones to express the healing effects of mirth. i find that when i do occupational therapy on my healing left arm [compound fracture last august] that after i have had hearty laughter from reading my vast collection of jokes, that the pain mysteriously has gone from a 7 down to a 1 or 0.

That's interesting.

I do find that humor helps with a lot of things. As long as I understand the humor, of course.

the jokes i have in my collection are fairly transparent [and ribald, which aids in their transparency]. but oft-times the better part of a fairly opaque bit of humor is when the relater of said humor attempts to diagram it for the benefit of the humor-challenged.