Anhedonia, illness, meds or both?

[rs929]

What do you think that causes anhedonia? The illness (depression, psychosis, etc.), the meds (SSRI's, benzos, etc.) or both?

Anyway I found this article, maybe there is some hope for those of us anhedonic https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/new-mechanism-treating-depression

 

[Isisnefert]

¿Qué crees que causa la anhedonia? ¿La enfermedad (depresión, psicosis, etc.), los medicamentos (ISRS, benzos, etc.) o ambos?

De todos modos encontré este artículo, tal vez haya algo de esperanza para aquellos de nosotros anhedónicos https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/new-mechanism-treating-depression

II think it is by disease

 

[EmbraceOfTheVoid]

The freeze response for me, emotional detachment to cope with traumatic events and stressors. Opioid analgesia caused by the freeze response supposedly leads to numbing.

I put it down as other as I don't consider it a illness but a biological and natural response. The issue here being that nature and evolution didn't account for the horrible shit that human beings do to one another and the society we live in that keeps you trapped in a perpetual state of freeze.

I also believe that antpsychotics give people emotional lobotomies based on all of the stories I've read.

 

[Odwin]

Never took meds. Still have it, but am I depressed because of anhedonia or vice versa?

 

[killedbypsychiatry]

I think both emotional states (I don't like the word mental "illness") and psychiatric drugs can cause anhedonia. However I think drug induced anhedonia like in PSSD cases can be much more severe because there's nothing you can do to fix it, your brain receptors have literally been altered. I think there's much more hope when the anhedonia is caused by a natural emotional state triggered by environmental factors.

I personally never had anhedonia until I took psychiatric drug, before that I was very very happy and passionate. But now I have an altered brain that cannot feel :(

 

[WornOutLife]

The freeze response for me, emotional detachment to cope with traumatic events and stressors. Opioid analgesia caused by the freeze response supposedly leads to numbing.

I put it down as other as I don't consider it a illness but a biological and natural response. The issue here being that nature and evolution didn't account for the horrible shit that human beings do to one another and the society we live in that keeps you trapped in a perpetual state of freeze.

I also believe that antpsychotics give people emotional lobotomies based on all of the stories I've read.

I think your answer is quite accurate!

 

[Trisolaris]

I think it can be many things. For me, anhedonia was first caused by depression and then worsened by medication.

 

[Makko]

I'm sure there are multiple convincing biochemical explanations but my secret opinion is that anhedonia is caused by the inherent boringsness of the world. To find exciting things you have to dig really deep, which is hard to motivate yourself to do when you have anhedonia to start with. You need to be really desperate if you're going to invest yourself in finding those remote and obscure feelings that are so strong that they will pierce through the anhedonia and reach your soul.

 

[LittleBabyNothing]

For me, it's a consequence of my bpd/cptsd, my depression is a symptom/coping mechanism.
The numbness increases on ssri's and for that reason i won't take them.
I also abuse weed to lessen my intensity and pain, this consequencially leaves me numb.
But mostly i think it's an in built defense. Being borderline everything is too intense, good or bad, so i've had to numb myself in order to survive, it's just too exhausting to experience as i do.

 

[LakatosDiogenesz]

The world just sucks and anyone who talks about it is declared mentally ill as a way to silence them.

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

Calling bluffs, maturity.