Anhedonia – inability to experience pleasure today

Due to the fact that the centers of pleasure and stress are being actively studied at this time, the term “anhedonia” is increasingly being used. According to psychiatrists, anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure, pleasure from the joys of life.

• Symptoms of anhedonia
• Depression and anhedonia
• The connection between anhedonia and schizophrenia
• Establishing diagnosis
• Treatment of anhedonia
• Differences and similarities between the terms “emotional inexpressiveness” and “anhedonia”
• Prevention
• Sexual anhedonia

The term arose in the middle of the last century as one of the most important symptoms of schizophrenia. A variety of sources describe the main characteristics of anhedonia differently. It represents a decrease in the ability to feel satisfaction or pleasant feelings, a decrease in interest in social life, and an almost complete absence of positive emotions while engaging in activities that were previously interesting. A person is not happy with his hobbies, the patient’s life loses color.

Evidence has been obtained that most of the identified cases of the disease are associated with a poor state of memory regarding pleasant sensations. If a healthy person takes part in an interesting event, most often he receives positive emotions that will be remembered for a long time. A patient with anhedonia practically cannot remember his sensations, therefore, his memories are either neutral or much less pleasant than those of a healthy person.

Symptoms of anhedonia

This disease can affect a variety of areas of life, which is described in detail in the specialized literature. The various areas of life into which anhedonia can penetrate are indicated. Symptoms are grouped into two broad groups: personal and social. The first group, which leads to a person being unable to enjoy previously favorite activities, includes:

1. The person is withdrawn and feels uncomfortable in a new place.
2. Music, books, paintings do not bring pleasant emotions to the patient - he does not understand art and, therefore, the person cannot receive pleasure from it.
3. Avoidance of mass events - discos, celebrations, receptions.
4. A person does not understand the reasons for the joy of loved ones.
5. There is no feeling of joy, satisfaction with existence. Days can be neither happy nor darkened by failures - all are bad and colorless.
6. Such people reject the usual pleasures of contact with a pet, a picnic in nature, a cultural event, delicious food, beautiful clothes, etc.

Social signs of anhedonia cause difficulties in contacts with colleagues and friends. The main ones are:

1. A person cannot stay in the company of other people for a long time - he develops anxiety, begins to worry, and wants to leave as soon as possible.
2. Difficulties when conducting telephone conversations - it is too painful to express your thoughts, talk for a long time.
3. In a company, a person with anhedonia is not able to rejoice with those around him or to engage in something with passion, and such behavior causes bewilderment.
4. In many cases, libido disappears.

A person with anhedonia is very unhappy, moreover, he is aware of his inferiority, since his life does not have what makes it happy and cheerful.

Features of growing oriental poppy

This is a fairly unpretentious plant that can tolerate low temperatures well. But, despite this, it loves sunny places, although it grows and blooms well in the shade. Like all flowers, perennial poppy, which is not at all difficult to care for, loves well-fertilized soil. To do this, use mineral fertilizers or compost and humus. It is good to plant seeds in sandy loam soil. The plant reacts very poorly to heavy watering and stagnant water. Perennial garden poppy is not afraid of stones in the soil and grows well on sandy soil. Thanks to the root in the form of a long rod, it obtains moisture from the ground and can do without watering for a long time.

This type of poppy responds relatively well to transplantation, but this work is best done in the fall, when the rainy season begins. In order not to damage the roots, it is advisable to replant the plant together with a lump of earth. This way it takes root better.

When digging up soil for a flower bed, it is important to take into account the characteristics of the tap root system of a given flower. The digging depth should be at least 30-40 cm. In this case, it is advisable to immediately add compost or humus (5-10 kg of organic fertilizers are added for each square meter of soil). In one place, the flower grows well and blooms for 5-7 years, after which its place needs to be changed.

This perennial poppy (photo attached) is large in size, so even when planting (or replanting), you need to make sure that the distance between the bushes is at least 50-70 cm.

You can lay mulch or peat. The flower will look more attractive. In addition, it will benefit the plant. Fertilizing with mineral fertilizers can be carried out in the spring, during the period of leaf growth, and during budding, i.e. immediately before flowering.

Depression and anhedonia

All this explains why anhedonia is either one of the primary signs of depression, or a very common cause of it. This is confirmed by the inclusion of the disease in the worldwide classification of diseases as an indispensable depressive symptom. Both the sick person and his loved ones recognize the loss of desire for favorite activities and hobbies, become more and more unsociable, and the range of interests and communication is limited. If we are talking about depression in a child, then its sign is the refusal of favorite toys, entertainment, books, and friends.

The connection between anhedonia and schizophrenia

Many experts believe, and note this in their works, that anhedonia is one of the main signs of schizophrenia, which can be noticed already at the beginning of mental disorder. Research data ranges from 60-75% of the incidence of anhedonia in patients with this diagnosis. Over 25% suffer from a very severe form of the symptom.

The signs of anhedonia in the case of schizophrenia differ in a number of ways from how the disease can manifest itself in a depressive state. First of all, this is the so-called “flattening of the emotional sphere”, the physical inability to feel and convey feelings: very weak and completely inexpressive gestures, facial expressions, practically no reaction to the words of another person, poor intonation of speech. Anhedonia is often observed in relatives of patients with schizophrenia and serves as evidence that this is a genetic disease.

This symptom can manifest itself in the fact that all emotional reactions are significantly weakened: both pleasant and those of a negative modality, which is an important marker of how pronounced negative symptoms are, what is the degree of maladjustment in society with established schizophrenia. If paranoia and anhedonia are combined and negative sensory reactions with pronounced productive symptoms disappear, this becomes a sign of a very unfavorable course of schizophrenia.

Risk of relapse

Whether the disease anhedonia returns is largely up to us. Medicines can help, but they will not change your lifestyle, the way you perceive and understand the world. Therapy is a good time to re-evaluate previous actions and set priorities differently. This doesn't mean we should give up our ambitions. You just need:

• learn to manage time in such a way that you stop constantly rushing;
• restore social contacts (this is especially true if social anhedonia is diagnosed), going to the movies, going for walks, developing your hobbies, going on vacation, etc.;
• Every day you should devote at least half an hour of time just to yourself;
• giving up things we can do without;
• do not take on too many responsibilities and responsibilities.

A common mistake is moving work home. Because working from morning to night is a simple matter, and maintaining a balance between work, personal life and rest is an art. We need to believe that we are the masters of our time, and not vice versa.

Anhedonia is a disease that requires treatment, and not just a quickly passing condition. If you don’t do it, a person can forever lose the joy of life and forget how to have fun. Don't let your world become gray and boring forever!

Establishing diagnosis

There are no tests specifically designed to measure anhedonia. The presence of the disease is revealed by interviewing the person. The specialist is interested in the patient’s pastime: whether he takes part in various types of social activities, whether he attends the theater, exhibitions, cinema, concerts, how often this happens and how it affects the person’s emotional state. You can ask questions directly: does a person enjoy doing handicrafts, gardening or other hobbies, or crowded events? If a person has no friends, is socially inactive, does not attend crowded places and mass events, this can be considered a basis for making a diagnosis.

How to collect seeds?

This is not difficult: you need to wait until the boxes are completely dry, after which they are carefully trimmed and stored in a bag made of thick fabric. You can also leave the grayish-black, small seeds of perennial poppy in the boxes, or remove the lid and pour the planting material into a glass container. Some people wrap the flower heads with gauze right on site. This method prevents the seeds from spilling onto the ground.

Treatment of anhedonia

It is almost impossible to cure anhedonia on your own. Since very often it is only a symptom of another disease, it is necessary to treat, first of all, the cause, and anhedonia itself will go away as the underlying disease gets rid of. However, there is a set of therapeutic techniques related to the treatment of anhedonia itself.

1. Establishing a well-organized daily routine - 8 hours of sleep at night, proper nutrition, dosed physical activity.
2. Eating foods rich in serotonin: fresh fruits, chocolate.
3. Focusing on positive events, creating favorable and joyful situations.
4. Correction by a psychotherapist: the use of behavioral techniques, Gestalt therapy, psychoanalysis.
5. Drug treatment: treatment with antidepressants determined by the doctor.

Differences and similarities between the terms “emotional inexpressiveness” and “anhedonia”

Anhedonia is a disease in which the patient is unable to feel satisfaction from things that previously gave him pleasure. It can be identified in a number of cases of mental pathologies and is defined as one of the most important signs of depressive syndrome.

emotional inexpressiveness to be a side effect of SSRIs. Its manifestations are a weakening of sensory reactions to all life situations, both joyful and sad.

The periodic confusion in the definition of these concepts is explained by the fact that emotional inexpressiveness manifests itself in different ways, including that positive feelings can be expressed very weakly.

Taking into account the qualitative research data published in the article “Emotional side effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: qualitative study” (BJP, 2009; 195 (3): 211-217), patients who took selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors:

1. They indicated increased emotional inexpressiveness. They experienced a decrease in the severity of all feelings they experienced.
2. Felt emotions more like thoughts;
3. We talked about some side effects:

• low degree of frequency and strength of positive feelings: joy, happiness, desire to work, affection, enthusiasm, etc.;
• negative feelings are also weakly expressed: sadness, anger, irritation, anxiety, inability to cry out;
• some detachment;
• the desire to take care of oneself and people and animals disappears;
• personality changes.

Such emotional inertia affects the private life of sick people, as a result of which they could independently identify these symptoms. All of the above gives the right to assert that the concepts of “anhedonia” and “emotional inexpressiveness” are not synonymous, although they significantly affect the patient, preventing him from realizing himself in the personal and public spheres and fully recovering emotionally and socially.

Diseases

The plant can be affected by ash grass (powdery mildew), black spot. The affected bush must be irrigated with special preparations containing copper, for example, copper sulfate, Bordeaux mixture, Maxim contact fungicide, Topaz systemic fungicide. If the bush is affected by a disease, all affected shoots and leaves should be cut off and burned, and the poppy itself should be fertilized with potassium fertilizer.

To preserve varietal qualities, planting and caring for perennial poppy must be carried out separately from its other species. This is necessary so that the flowers do not pollinate among themselves and do not change the varietal color and texture of the petals.

Having planted these lush and beautiful flowers in your flowerbed, you will be able to admire them for several years.

Angelonia Angelonia, "Summer Snapdragon". Perennial herbs with opposite lanceolate leaves, blooming with brightly colored single flowers collected in a raceme.

Etymology

The name is given by the name of the Angelon

in Caracas (Venezuela), where it was first discovered.

Types and varieties of angelonia

The genus includes about 30 species of herbaceous plants and subshrubs, naturally growing in tropical and subtropical zones. Angelonia angustifolia is mainly grown in cultivation.

and its hybrids.

Angelonia angustifolia

The species was introduced into culture in 1990 in the USA.

An evergreen plant with straight stems up to 45-55 cm high and up to 30 cm wide, with narrow, lanceolate, pointed serrated leaves. When rubbed, the foliage smells like apples.

The two-lipped flowers can be of various colors: pink-lilac, purple, blue and white, with a diameter of just over 2 cm, collected in slender spike-shaped inflorescences from 8 to 20 cm long.

Blooms within 4-6 weeks. Good for cutting.

Angelonia in zones 9-11 is a perennial plant; in temperate latitudes it is grown as an annual plant.

Angelonia varieties

Angelface

- plant up to 60 cm high, blue-violet flowers;

Serena series

- flowers of five colors: purple, lavender, blue, pink and white, plants up to 30 cm high and up to 30-35 cm wide;

Serenita series

- compact plants, 20-35 cm high, blooming with bright flowers (raspberry, purple, lavender and white);

Sungelonia series

- plants less than 40 cm high, flowers are bright pink, white and blue.

Angelonia care

The plant is unpretentious. In general, this is a light and heat-loving plant that requires regular watering. Responds well to feeding.

It is rarely affected by diseases and pests.

After the flowers fade, it is advisable to cut off the peduncle.

Angelonia propagation

Seeds that are sown in January-February for seedlings. The seeds are not buried. Seedlings are planted in open ground in late May-early June.

Propagation by cuttings is possible. Cuttings take root within 1-2 weeks.

Angelonia is a flowering annual plant that has more than 40 species. This plant is unpretentious, so it does not require special care. It can be planted in the garden in the shade or in the sun.

The plant is grown from seed. Planting is carried out in February in pots. For this, a loose substrate is used, which must first be disinfected. The soil is treated with some kind of fungicide. Next, the seed is sown. The seeds are planted in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 3 cm from each other. For this, very loose soil is used. They do not need to be sprinkled with soil; it is enough to cover them with a thin layer of soil. To sprout, a seed needs light. Angelonia should be sown at room temperature. After 1-2 weeks you will see the first shoots, after that reduce the temperature. After the sprouts appear, the temperature is reduced to 18 degrees.

Angelonia angustifolia seedlings are watered moderately. Overmoistening of angelonia is not allowed. It is necessary to cover the plants with film or grow them under glass. Before planting in the ground, angelonia is watered several times with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, for example, saltpeter. The seedlings are transferred to the ground when there is no longer frost. Usually this is at the end of May.

Please note that the root of the flower is a taproot, so when digging it up, you must not damage it.

Advantages of Angelonia:

• beauty;
• long flowering period;
• unpretentiousness;
• opportunity to grow a perennial plant.

In theory, angelonia is an annual, but with proper care it will delight you for many years. If you want to enjoy the “poor orchid” next year, cut off half the shoots and remove all the flowers at the end of August. In September, transfer the roots to a pot and take them to the cellar or cool room. Moisten the soil occasionally.

If you want to enjoy angelonia indoors in the winter after flowering in the garden, cut off all the flowers in early autumn and replant the plant in a pot. Water deeply and you will see beautiful flowers in November. You can see what they look like in the photo. It is worth noting that after winter flowering there is no point in replanting the plant in the garden. It will no longer bloom. Angelonia flowers have a certain number of uterine buds that produce buds; when the reserves are exhausted, the plant does not bloom.

Sexual anhedonia

If a person suffers from sexual anhedonia, he will experience symptoms very similar to narrowly focused apathy. Sexual intercourse is not interesting to such a person and does not lead to arousal. Indifference and coldness in relationships become a common state. During sexual intercourse, in most cases, he does not show activity, but demonstrates complete disinterest. There are two reasons for this phenomenon: repressive moral standards instilled in childhood, or the behavior of a partner that causes rejection.

Therapy

As already mentioned, anhedonia can be a consequence of neurotic or mental disorders. But it can also develop in people without such pathologies. In any case, treatment is prescribed by a specialist and is carried out under the strict supervision of a doctor.

To completely overcome the disease, patients undergo a paired complex treatment that corrects behavior, destroys stereotypes, and creates new models of action. In many cases, men underestimate and misunderstand the importance of the emotional side of sexual relations. Women should overcome their complexes, get to know their body and its needs better, accept the fact that sex is necessary and important not only for a man, but also for herself. Interest in sexual relations will not be restored immediately. Better results can be achieved in a shorter time if you treat sexual anhedonia in a medical center with highly qualified specialists and good technical equipment.

When is it time to visit a doctor?

It’s one thing, for example, a two-day blues, which each of us has the right to, and quite another thing is the despondency and disappointment with which we wake up and go to bed. If this condition lasts more than two weeks, you need to think about what happened, why everything that mattered suddenly lost its meaning, and try to change it. How?

People often have the feeling that what they do does not bring them satisfaction. But instead of thinking about why this happens, they set new goals for themselves, making a titanic effort on themselves, and go to work because they are afraid of losing it. At home, they collapse from exhaustion because they have no renewable energy sources. Some are addicted to alcohol, others take sedatives, middle-aged people often stimulate themselves with drugs in order to maintain a certain pace of life for as long as possible. But why? After all, closing in on oneself - such tactics do not lead to anything good. The body has excellent opportunities to recuperate, so you need to give yourself a chance. When you notice that something bad is happening to you, go to the doctor, do not wait for anhedonia to bloom in full bloom. The diagnosis of depression can only be confirmed or excluded by a doctor, although this does not necessarily have to be a psychiatrist. Most first-contact doctors can handle this, since a worsened, depressed mood accompanies many somatic diseases. If the case turns out to be more complex, they will refer you to a psychiatrist.