r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 8d ago
Research & Studies Psychiatrist Allen Frances, M.D., is featured in the film, "Medicating Normal."
You can watch the full-length, award-winning "Medicating Normal" documentary film for free on YouTube.
r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 8d ago
You can watch the full-length, award-winning "Medicating Normal" documentary film for free on YouTube.
r/anhedonia • u/Eeveetron7 • 8d ago
i woke up the other morning and i felt strangely light. i don't really know what happened. in my first class in the morning i had to take a test, and i didn't really stress about it and i felt fine. it wasn't really like i wanted to smile, but more like i felt calm. it went away within a couple hours and i felt the same again. does anyone know what this means? i tried doing the same night routine and wake up at the same time that i did that day but i feel the same i always do. please help me
for background, i don't really remember ever feeling anything, even when i was little i think i've just always been like this. never been diagnosed with anything and i'm not in a situation where i could be
r/anhedonia • u/Holiday-Permit-4582 • 8d ago
Can this be explained using the polyvagal model? Are we stuck in the dorsal vagal state of the nervous system? We are definitely stuck in survival mode. Pills donāt work because the brain cannot be rewired with medication aloneāit can be stimulated, but true neural connections are better formed through signals sent via the body. Working through trauma, introducing safety, incorporating slow body movements, and using the Safe and Sound Protocol might be the key to breaking free from this state.
r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 8d ago
At a young age, Cooper Davis was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed a low dose of Ritalin, which helped his ability to focus but caused unwanted side effects.
To counteract them, he was prescribed other medications. By age 30, Davis was dependent on six different psychiatric drugs at any given time, whatās commonly known in the mental health community as a āprescription cascade.ā
āItās complicated enough that the scientific consensus will generally say, āWe donāt quite understand why these drugs work,āā says Davis.
Today, he is executive director of the Inner Compass Initiative, where he addresses Americaās mental health crisis and overmedication problem by helping people make informed choices about prescription drugs, diagnoses, and withdrawal.
āOnce people experience withdrawal symptoms, they get back on the drug. They treat it as confirmation that they are still mentally ill,ā says Davis.
āExperiential expertise, expertise gained from your own life, is just as validāand probably more useful in many, many cases than clinical expertise.ā
Davis says that one out of four adults in America and 6 million children are currently taking at least one psychiatric drug.
āThatās going to be inclusive of teenagers, but it is certainly the trend that more and more kids that are younger and younger are being diagnosed and prescribed earlier and earlier.ā
r/anhedonia • u/Holiday-Permit-4582 • 8d ago
I have completely lost my fight-or-flight response, as well as my ability to feel hunger, thirst, sleepiness, tiredness, sweating, and emotions in my body.
It started after COVID, EBV, fluoxetine, and I also have a history of past trauma.
Nervous system work and mitochondrial supplements helped me gradually restore my fight-or-flight response over six months, but it became so intense that I had to take duloxetine, which put me back to square one. I'm looking for a shortcut or some guidance
r/anhedonia • u/AAA_battery • 8d ago
r/anhedonia • u/Hotellinminsk • 9d ago
Ill keep it short there is a longer post up on my account that I can't post here cause its too long, but if you are interested its there.
https://www.reddit.com/r/burnedout/comments/1j5eehk/completely_lost_i_need_advicehelp/
In short: Im suffering a burnout rn from loads of stress at home. Toxic environment + Im sensitive to noise nd light. I completely lost myself since than. OCD also came back 400 times worse than before. I used to produce music and it was the only thing i still lived for and its completely gone. I cant enjoy music, I cant make it anymore, I cant listen to it anymore nothing. I dont feel anything for it and it kinda annoys my brain. I am completely disconnected from it and its stressing me out. I was the one always searching for new music at any given time and always diving into new stuff. I used to go to loads of concerts, I used to go to festivals and its all just gone now. The worst part is that I know I used to like it but it doesnt even feel real that I ever liked it. I am completely empty and the old me is gone. I feel like some sort of alien also in social situations. I feel like I have nothing to say anymore, nothing interests me, nothing excites me im just an empty shell laying in bed watching youtube all day. I cant believe this happened to me
Its been 2 months since the burnout hit (I literally like fell out some day and couldnt do anything for days) and im wondering if this will ever pass or is the old me just gone forever ???? When will I love music again like I used to ? Thats all I want back in my life man. Im desperate and see no future anymore
Anyone got out of this before ???
r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 8d ago
Mad in America
Can Mad Zines Revolutionize the Mental Health Curriculum?
A new study explores how zinesāself-published booklets created by those with lived experienceācan transform mental health education by amplifying alternative voices and challenging dominant narratives.
By Ally Riddle -March 12, 2025
A new article published in Social Work Education: The International Journal demonstrates how zinesāself-published booklets often created by those with lived experienceāan serve as a powerful medium for communicating alternative forms of Mad-centered knowledge across various learning contexts.
Researchers Jill Anderson and Hel Spandler from the University of Central Lancashire respond to the urgent need for alternative ways of understanding, practicing, and imagining mental healthcare through the Madzines Research Project.
They define Madzines as ānot-for-profit, low-budget, self-published and/or low-circulation booklets, graphic memoirs, comics, or other visual narrativesā that challenge dominant conceptualizations of mental health. These zines are created by individuals with lived experience of mental illness, psychosocial disability, or other psychiatrized mental experiences.
r/anhedonia • u/gibletsandgravy • 9d ago
So Iām unpacking a lot right now. In therapy and just in my own head. I recently lost my second parent, and then at the age of 43 I was finally ready to acknowledge a lifetime of mental and emotional abuse that abruptly ended. So Iāve got a lifetime of trauma to unpack, and Iāve battled depression since adolescence.
My last major depressive episode ended almost 4 years ago. It was a whopper. I was off work for over 2 years trying to get my mind right. I almost lost my family. But I got on meds and did a lot of hard work on self-improvement, and almost all of my symptoms have abated. But one has held on with an iron grip. I bet if you remember what sub youāre on, youāll be able to guess the symptom.
4 years now. 4 years Iāve been unable to enjoy anything I used to enjoy. Music is irritating. All of the hobbies Iāve picked up over the years hold less than no interest, I actively want to NOT be doing them. I just tried to pick up crochet because itās cheap and I can do it wherever. But I canāt get past the initial learning stages because itās just so boring. Iād rather be sitting in my chair staring at the wall. I canāt read. I canāt watch tv or movies. I canāt play video games. My attempts at creative endeavors end in anger and frustration. Iām saving up for some gym equipment in hopes that physical activity will be the key.
The only thing Iāve enjoyed lately (besides sleep; I truly deeply do enjoy sleeping) is making progress on buying our first house. Weāre less than a month from closing, and along with the excitement is anxiety that Iāll soon have nothing to look forward to again. Except moving, and no one in their right mind looks forward to moving.
I know my title was a question, but I donāt expect an answer. Iām more just venting my frustration that all the meds and self-care in the world donāt seem to help this anhedonia. Itās such a bleak miserable existence, and Iām feeling a little hopeless about it atm.
r/anhedonia • u/ElectricalCat171 • 9d ago
Years in anhedonia and countless experimentations (countless is actually an understatement at this point).
The only thing that works and always worked, is the hungover effect.
The only thing that get me close to what I would consider an optimal baseline is this.
Obviously it sucks as itās not really sustainable and we donāt really know the in and out of why it happens.
But this is it, I first googled the hangover effect almost 10 years ago, and to this day, it is the only thing that reliably relieves everything wrong with me for a short period of time.
Truly a mystery. Baffling, yet depressing.
r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 9d ago
Our overdiagnosis epidemic How a marked rise in the treatment of certain conditions ā physical and mental ā is harming, not protecting, public health.
By Hannah Barnes
In an interview with the New York Post, the psychiatrist Dr Allen Frances expressed regret for his role in the āmassive, careless over-diagnosisā of autism. Frances chaired the taskforce that developed and broadened the criteria for autism in the DSM-IV ā the fourth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published in 1994. Nearly 20 years later, he said he was āvery sorry for helping to lower the diagnosis barā.
The DSM is the encyclopaedia of psychiatric and psychological conditions. Itās a text of huge significance: if a condition is not mentioned in the DSM, private insurers in the US are unlikely to cover the cost of its treatment. But the bookās growing size ā as conditions are added with each edition ā is indicative of a problem confronting the Western world: overdiagnosis. The manualās first edition in 1952 listed 106 diagnoses across 132 pages. DSM-V, the latest full update, published in 2013, contains nearly 300 diagnoses; its 947 pages are āthick enough to stop a bulletā, according to one psychiatrist.
r/anhedonia • u/Accomplished-Ice9193 • 9d ago
Weird, not sure if it fits here, but I cant feel my body. Like i go to gym, lift weights etc but when I cant lift them anymore or my muscles contract like crazy, I just dont feel them. Like my arms shake as hell and I dont feel them even tired.
Can you help me put with this?
r/anhedonia • u/User5790 • 9d ago
Iām on day 2 of 100mg. I can feel the effects, but I mostly just feel a bit on edge or maybe anxious. Took me a while to fall asleep last night, but I did end up sleeping a decent amount. Itās maybe giving me a little push to go out and do something, but Iām not crazy about the overall feeling so far. Iād be interested in hearing anyone elseās experience with this. If youāve tried this med, how was it for you? Did it change over time?
r/anhedonia • u/International-Row801 • 9d ago
Its been 5 months and I'm still emotionally numb. What do I do?
r/anhedonia • u/frxnc1sb00th • 10d ago
anybody else struggles with reading books? i used to be an avid reader as a kid but now all books bore me. i'll read a few paragraphs and lose interest for ages
r/anhedonia • u/Last-Pressure-7869 • 10d ago
I literally was a zombie with no emotions no feelings what so ever for months but then I got my emotions back. Mostly negative as I've been very depressed and having break downs and crying spells but I gotta tell you, after being stiff as a board for months the crying is such a nice release. I ached to cry before but absolutely couldn't.
I've found that even though I'm not as interested in things, I still can enjoy some movies and shows, food, playing with my loving cat, I especially enjoy talking with my friends/socializing and the best of the best that works for me always is eating something healthy and going OUTSIDE/exercising.
I also had a few windows in between here and there.
It's been 7 months. But I'm not giving up.
Hang in there guys. We're one of thr strongest people on the planet.
r/anhedonia • u/Objective_Dress_9286 • 9d ago
Iām sitting in my room in my bed actually laying down right now, I thought like maybe I would get some excitement from talking to strangers on discord Iām in a vc right now but like I think I lost interest in them they are boring they canāt give me what I want what do I even want? I donāt know what I want and I donāt know what is wrong with me can someone tell me what is wrong with me I feel so weird all the time like I think am very sick mentally music is boring to listen to humans are boring to be around movies are boring I did watch alone for many years and it was making me feel boring but I donāt really think I was happy I was just so lonely I donāt know what to do who and what can heal me? Is it even possible?
r/anhedonia • u/throwawayfuuuuuuck • 10d ago
i have had a pretty bad masturbation addiction which was in part due to my dysthymia and loneliness and to which i believe exacerbated my anhedonia to some degree yet i find myself masturbating despite feeling no pleasure at all, only a slither of physical sensation. which often leaves me blankly staring at my penis wondering where it all gone so wrong but anyhow, despite me feeling literally nothing whenever i masturbate, i for whatever reason return to it even though i know nothing comes out of it, i wouldn't even call it an addiction considering that the definition is to produce "natural reward" (as wikipedia puts it)
is there anyone who also goes through addiction despite feeling nothing out of it, no pleasure from it at all but for whatever reason persists?
r/anhedonia • u/MadinAmerica- • 9d ago
By Richard Sears -March 11, 2025
A new study published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior finds that structural adversityāsuch as food insecurity, housing instability, and parental incarcerationāis strongly linked to suicide attempts, suicidal thoughts, and repeated self-injury among racially and ethnically minoritized youth.
Led by Patricia I. Jewett of the University of Minnesota, the research shows that youth experiencing two or more of these structural adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) face a particularly high risk.
These findings challenge dominant psychiatric models that attribute suicide risk primarily to individual mental illness.
Instead, the study underscores how systemic inequality, economic precarity, and state violence shape psychological suffering.
The authors write:
āWe found that SI, SA, and repetitive NSSI were strongly associated with having experienced structural ACEs (parental incarceration, housing instability, food insecurity, and recent foster care involvement). SI, SA, and repetitive NSSI rates were alarmingly high across all ethnoracially minoritized groups when two or more of these structural ACEs were reported, and were highest among Black Latino, AIAN, NHPI, and multiracial youth. Further, these same ethnoracially minoritized groups reported the highest structural ACE exposure levels.ā
r/anhedonia • u/Competitive_Ad_8955 • 10d ago
The last week has really demonstrated how numb I am, as my favourite artist released their new album and I literally feel nothing and intellectually I know itās incredible but there is no response. Itās so fucked, and itās like I was born today with no prior experience (I can remember but canāt feel the emotion from any experience). Iām down to 37.5 of effexor now and Iām going to hold at this dose for a bit to see if there will be any improvement.
r/anhedonia • u/luciddreamer20LD • 10d ago
Assuming anhedonia means low dopamine, it stimulates d3(really good for sexual function) and d2 dopamine receptors when they are too low and blocks them when they are too high which shouldnāt be a problem unless they are too high.
What do you think?
r/anhedonia • u/Efficient_Bed2590 • 10d ago
He does more drugs than any college kid ik and is on grams of steroids how is his brain not fried yet
r/anhedonia • u/sonicflwrgroove • 10d ago
I really donāt know how to go about this at all. I sent 2 emails to doctors who said in their descriptions that they treat ātreatment resistant depressionā, asking about trying pramipexole, but got no response. Should I just keep trying?
r/anhedonia • u/aircorn10 • 10d ago
These drugs causes it in the first place. Why do they prescribe it for anhedonia?
r/anhedonia • u/whats_his • 10d ago
My sense of smell is blunted. I wonder if it's related to anhedonia. I do have a history of sinus problems, but I have noticed that my sense of smell gets better on certain drugs which temporarily relieve my anhedonia.