There is a growing number of people who lose this ability to experience small joys. This condition (anhedonia) is a key symptom of modern depression. People who are overworked and under stress suffer from it. What are the symptoms of anhedonia and how is it treated?

The termanhedonia(Greek: an - "without", hedone - "pleasure") was introduced by the French psychologist and philosopher Théodore-Armand Ribot in 1896 to describe a symptom accompanying many mental disorders, not only depression. In short, anhedonia is the lack of joy in the elementary manifestations of life.

Anhedonia affects professionally active people who spend several hours at work, do not have time to rest and sleep. They are constantly striving for something, reaching new heights, but their lives lack color, taste, pleasure. They feel that their quality of life has deteriorated, but blame it on fatigue. They do not tell the doctor about it, because who would consider sadness a disease …

Causes of anhedonia: pace of life and civilization

Although depression was already known to Hippocrates as a disease, its image is constantly changing, just as the image of the world changes. Even 20 or 30 years ago, a person suffering from depression was associated with a person aged 50+ who ends his professional career, experiences the syndrome of an abandoned nest, begins to have somatic diseases. Today, depression is most often diagnosed in people aged 20-40 and affects every tenth man and every fifth woman. Many women experience the first episode of the disease 3-4 months after giving birth when they are overloaded with duties, men - after losing the fight for an important position.

Depression has become a disease of civilization. It ranks third after cardiovascular diseases and cancer, but it is estimated that in 2030 it may take the infamous 1st place (it is already the leader among women and city dwellers). This is the price we pay for a lifestyle determined by haste. Today, 50- and 60-year-old people are still fit and are not going to slow down. They occupy leadership positions, outperforming youth competencies, but eventually burnout. They lose the sense of meaning in life and nothing makes them happy.

Depression also affects young workaholics. It all depends on internal resources. Often a seasoned sixty-year-old is better able to manage his career by protectionbefore burnout, while the 30-year-old throws himself into the rat race and can't stand it. Some people are overwhelmed by working in a corporation, others - by being self-employed.

Burnout primarily affects people whose work is associated with individual responsibility, but also freedom, and thus mainly the so-called liberal professions where nobody limits the momentum (doctors, lawyers, journalists, artists, executives). But drivers who travel long journeys or nurses on duty also suffer from depression.

Anhedonia and the circadian rhythm of activity

Typical depressions are associated with melancholy, decreased activity, appetite, body weight, and sexual needs. Today, there are equally atypical depressions related to the over-exploitation of one's resources. They are characterized by sustained or even increased activity, but without satisfaction with their achievements. It is accompanied by a disturbance of the biological clock, disturbance of the proportion of work and rest. Being active is important to maintaining emotional well-being. However, certain limits cannot be exceeded. People who sleep less than 5 hours a night are seven times more prone to depression than those who sleep 7-8 hours. Just a few late nights are enough for the risk of depression to increase 1.5 times.

Working time is also important. Many people work too long. It turns out that those who do not have free time and spend most of their lives at work suffer from depression more than twice as often as people leaving the company after 8 hours. The longer we work beyond our strength, the more difficult it is to stay cheerful.

Men are less prone to depression caused by excess work than women. They may work 55 hours a week and show no signs of being sick. In women, the risk increases beyond 40 hours. In their case, depression is additionally favored by the hormonal storm associated with menopause.

Important

The two-day chandra to which each of us has a right is one thing, the longer-lasting depression with which we wake up and go to sleep. If such a state lasts more than 2 weeks, you have to think about what happened that what was of value to me suddenly ceased to matter, and try to change it. According to the WHO, depression occurs in every part of the world. 5 percent suffer from it. the entire population. It affects women twice as often as men.

Causes of anhedonia: overwork

Up to a point, depression is protected against depression by high motivation, but the increase in earnings related to more hours worked and a higher position do not fully compensate for the risk of deteriorationmood. After all, even the toughest competitor "breaks down". Nobody can measure how much he can withstand. Only himself. Identifying a typical karoshi (Japanese: "worked to death") is difficult, as is it difficult to calculate how much we are actually working.

Is thinking about work after work also work? Often yes! It is disturbing that Poles work the most of all the inhabitants of Europe. In the United States, where there is still no formally guaranteed paid vacation and more than half of citizens take less than a week of vacation per year, the statistic for diagnosed depressive disorders is the highest in the world.

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Anhedonia: when is it time to see a doctor

People feel that what they are doing does not give them satisfaction, but instead of wondering why it is happening, they set themselves new goals, "forced" they go to work because they are afraid that they will lose it . At home, they are exhausted because they do not have this renewable energy. Some people use alcohol, others take sedatives, middle-aged people often stimulate themselves with drugs in order to use these vapors as long as possible. But why? Closing oneself does not lead to anything good. We have excellent regeneration capabilities, so let's give them a chance. When you notice that something is wrong with you, go to the doctor, don't wait for the disease to develop. A diagnosis of depression can only be confirmed or ruled out by a doctor, although it may not necessarily be a psychiatrist. Most GPs will be able to deal with this, as depressed mood is associated with many somatic diseases, and if the matter turns out to be more complicated, they will refer you to a psychiatrist.

Important

From stress to depression

The first step to depression is always chronic stress, which does not mobilize us to act, but causes us to wear out. A stressed person is tense, oversensitive, he cannot bear criticism, he cannot rest or enjoy the weekend because he thinks that he will have to go to work. Holidays only make her malaise worse. She has trouble sleeping, so she gets up tired, has a hard time concentrating, gets stressed and gets fat. Persistent stress leads to anxiety (neurosis). Such a person gets tired for a year, two or more, and finally depression appears. Just like an overheated engine breaks down, overheated emotions make you sick. Often times, anxiety and depression syndromes overlap.

Anhedonia treatment

There are a number of treatments for depression (biological, psychotherapeutic, psychosocial), but they are hard to come by. In Poland, people wait for psychotherapymonths, even a year. Therefore, in practice, almost all depression is treated pharmacologically. In the past, tricyclic preparations were used, which gave various side effects, since the end of the 1980s we have had drugs on the market that are not addictive and non-toxic. No weight gain is observed with most preparations. Possible side effects may appear at the beginning of treatment and after abrupt discontinuation of the drug. Some people think: I feel better, I can work 14 hours, go to a party and do a few more things, so why do I need medication.

You must not end the therapy too early, because it may cause the disease to recur. Improving your well-being is one thing, stabilizing it is another. Every episode of depression can be treated, but it takes time. Classically, treatment lasts six months, but to prevent relapses, drugs need to be taken 1-1.5 years.

In recurrent depression, drugs are taken for many years or forever. The doctor decides about it. Pharmacotherapy is complemented by psychotherapy (supports, helps to understand the sources of the disease, teaches assertiveness). The decision to undertake such treatment is an individual matter. You have to consider whether I can cope with it, because psychotherapy requires work that often lasts many years.

Risk of anhedonia recurrence

Whether the disease returns is largely up to us. Medicines can help us, but they will not change our way of life, the way we understand the world. Therapy is a good time to reevaluate the activities you have done so far, and to set your priorities differently. This does not mean that we have to give up our ambitions. You have to learn to manage your time in such a way that you stop rushing. Rebuild social contacts, go to the cinema, go for a walk, develop your hobbies, go on vacation. Set aside at least half an hour for yourself every day. Let us give up the things we can do without and do not take on too many responsibilities. A common mistake is moving work home. Because it is not difficult to work from morning to night, the art is to maintain a balance between work, family life and rest. You have to believe that we are the masters of our time, not the other way around.

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Psychiatry