Anhedonia
Anhedonia
Depression is a challenging phase for the respective individual who faces the same. Depression can occur in an individual of any age or gender. There are several symptoms which are associated with different types of depression and some of these symptoms prove to be a significant factor in changing lifestyle.
Types of Anhedonia: There are mainly two types of anhedonia which are detected in the concerned individuals.
- Physical Anhedonia: In this type of anhedonia, if an individual likes something close to your heart, then he eventually loses interest in such activities. Many individuals lose interest from their favorite foods and at times, also from sexual pleasures.
- Social Anhedonia: As the name suggests, social anhedonia mainly involves lack of interest to go around and meet other people in one’s network. This makes the individual lack a social life. Such individuals do not find interest in taking active participation in social situations.
Symptoms of Anhedonia: Like every type of depression or anxiety, anhedonia too, comprises of specific symptoms which must be considered for diagnosis followed by treatment of the condition.
- Lack of interest in good events in one’s life
- Development of negative about oneself along with near and dear ones
- Showing of fake emotions and happiness at blissful events like marriages and parties
- Loss of flexibility to adapt to the variable surrounding in the personal and professional lives
- Lack of interest in physical pleasures like intercourse
- Increased chances and occurrence of sickness
Causes of Anhedonia:
Anhedonia is a popular aspect associated with depression. It affects in different medical conditions of various types. This includes bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The presence of Anhedonia is also seen in some of the unexpected type of medical illnesses which include diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, and Coronary artery disease, to name a few. In some of the patients, brain activity changes occur. Dopamine which is a chemical aiding to the feeling of positivity and goodness gets fluctuated in cases of anhedonia.
Risk Factors of Anhedonia: Here are some of the most common factors associated with Anhedonia.
- Family history of Schizophrenia or Major Depression
- Occurrence of traumatic event
- History of abusive incidents
- Presence of major illness
- Presence of eating disorders in the concerned individual
Diagnosis of Anhedonia: Anhedonia is a diagnosis under the guidance of the doctor, especially that of mental health specialist. One must keep track of the symptoms he has observed in his overall health, which has made him consult the respective medical specialist. The doctor performs a basic physical examination. This is followed by blood tests especially the patient provides medical history of thyroid-related issues or presence of vitamin deficiencies to name a few.
Treatment of Anhedonia: Anhedonia treatment is performed in different phases based on the response of the body on the respective treatment option chosen for the patient.
- Antidepressant medications: Medications are prescribed for the treatment of anhedonia. Antidepressants are the most common ones. The dosage and side effects must be discussed beforehand to avoid any adverse impact on the body.
- Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): ECT is performed in most of the depression types and proves to be very beneficial for the patients. ECT utilizes electrodes to create basic brain seizure to bring results.
- Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): Here magnetic field is used and there is no requirement of general anesthesia for the patient. This works well when patient does not respond to the medication-based treatments.
- Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS): VNS is the most advanced treatment for anhedonia after the treatments mentioned above do not provide improvement in the mental condition of the patient.
Thus, anhedonia must be diagnosed and treated with professional care and expertise. This will help patients to heal themselves and go ahead with a progressive mental and physical health.
