Guest blog: The Enduring Numbness of Depression Has a Name: What You Need to Know About Anhedonia

This post was sponsored and created by Johnson &amp Johnson Innovative Medicine

People living with significant depressive disorder (MDD) may possibly describe feelings of numbness, emptiness, or a comprehensive loss of motivation, interest, or pleasure lasting for hours, days, or even weeks at a time. Known as anhedonia, this feeling is a core symptom of depression that numerous men and women may possibly be unfamiliar with, even these who have knowledgeable it firsthand. If you or somebody close to you has been diagnosed with MDD, finding out about anhedonia can aid you to much better determine and handle its symptoms and empower you to talk about prospective remedy solutions with your healthcare provider.

What is MDD?

MDD, or clinical depression (normally referred to as ‘depression’), is a mood disorder that causes persistent feelings of sadness along with loss of interest and pleasure. Depression is diagnosed by the presence of many symptoms that endure more than time and negatively impact a person’s usual functioning, typically presenting itself differently in men and women, which can make diagnosis a hard journey. It is estimated that 280 million men and women worldwide presently reside with MDD.

What is anhedonia?

One of two cardinal symptoms of a significant depressive episode, anhedonia is defined as the inability to love experiences or activities that had been as soon as pleasurable to you, such as consuming your favored foods, listening to music you typically like, or participating in hobbies. Anhedonia can be described as numbness or emptiness – exactly where you just cannot really feel something. Relationships come to be a struggle, and there is no motivation to invest time with other people. Essentially, anhedonia is the persistent inability to really feel pleasure or joy.

“In my clinical experience, people with depression have never heard the word ‘anhedonia’ and often have a hard time describing their experience with it. They will often say things like, ‘I feel like I’m living in a world of black and white, when everyone else lives in color,’ or, ‘Sometimes I just feel like a blank slate, and I don’t want to do anything at all,’” shares Dr. Craig Chepke, M.D., DFAPA, board-certified psychiatrist, Medical Director at Excel Psychiatric Associates, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatry Residency Program at Atrium Health.

Nearly 70% of men and women taking an antidepressant to treat their MDD continue to knowledge depression symptoms regardless of the use of medication.1 These are identified as residual symptoms, and anhedonia is one particular of the most normally reported residual symptoms when taking an antidepressant.¹

What causes anhedonia?

While it is not identified what causes anhedonia, investigation to aid us much better realize the biological causes is ongoing. What we do know is that aspects such as chronic pressure, inflammation, and other circumstances can lead to the reduction of our potential to type a hyperlink amongst purpose-oriented behavior and our enjoyment of pleasurable activities. This implies that, when experiencing anhedonia, our brains are much less motivated by the points we typically love undertaking, resulting in the basic feeling of numbness or emptiness. Researchers are investigating strategies to restore standard activity in the brain circuits involved in reward processing and finding out in men and women living with depression, potentially lowering or eliminating anhedonia.

What can be performed to aid somebody experiencing anhedonia with their MDD?

Left untreated, anhedonia can have a significant impact on each mental and physical wellness. This contains building far more serious depression, social isolation, anxiousness, suicidal thoughts, and malnutrition. If you or somebody close to you may possibly be experiencing anhedonia, it is essential to:

• Learn about and realize how to spot the indicators of anhedonia.
• Recognize how anhedonia impacts each day life – this can appear distinctive for absolutely everyone, so it may possibly be useful to verify in with oneself or ask the particular person if they’ve noticed any modifications in how they’re feeling.
• Tell your healthcare provider about your symptoms so they can help you in locating a option that assists you regain your interest in experiences you utilized to uncover enjoyable.

Dr. Chepke advises his individuals that, “Knowledge is power, and simply having access to the word ‘anhedonia’ can be the key to talking about it with a healthcare professional. I’d recommend people who think they may be experiencing anhedonia to be direct and say, ‘I read about anhedonia, and it sounded a lot like what I feel – can we talk about it?’”

By becoming empowered to determine the symptoms they are feeling, individuals can function with their healthcare providers to navigate their MDD diagnosis and remedy solutions to aid cut down anhedonia and increase all round depression outcomes.

For far more info, and to take a mental wellness screen, go to MHA’s National Screening and Prevention Program site.

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Wayne Drevets, M.D., is the Disease Area Leader in Neuropsychiatry for Neuroscience at Johnson &amp Johnson Innovative Medicine, exactly where he leads a cross-functional group in the improvement of J&ampJ’s business-top portfolio of novel therapeutics for mood and psychotic problems. Dr. Drevets has published far more than 390 articles and chapters and has been cited far more than 80,000 occasions in scientific literature. His investigation focuses on characterizing the neurocircuitry of mood problems, elucidating the mechanisms underlying antidepressant and mood-stabilizing therapies, and the discovery and improvement of novel therapeutics for mood and psychotic problems.

Craig Chepke, M.D. is a board-certified psychiatrist in clinical practice as the healthcare director of Excel Psychiatric Associates in Huntersville, N.C., and is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry for Sandra and Leon Levine Psychiatry Residency Program at Atrium Health. His clinical and academic interests contain hard-to-treat mood problems, ADHD, sleep medicine, and pharmacology. Dr. Chepke is the Scientific Director of the Psych Congress loved ones of CME conferences and has been recognized as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

The views and opinions expressed in this weblog solely belong to the author, and external content material does not necessarily reflect the views of Mental Health America.

References

1 Israel JA. The effect of residual symptoms in significant depression. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 20103(8):2426-2440.