how to deal with anhedonia, though?

[AFAB Transwoman]

Try not to PL here but I’ve been a recluse my entire life and can’t see anything beyond the internet… but even that’s not doing anything for me anymore.

I had started attempting to do things again ( have fun with good family members, looking into jobs and schools et cetera ) but I just generally feel so disinterested in life.

Need some advice

 

[ToroidalBoat]

Seems anhedonia is like entropy or decay to pleasure and enjoying life.

 

[0 0]

Lift.

Exercise is goal and growth oriented with delayed gratification.

 

[OrionBalls]

Doing light exercise, seeing a counselor, getting involved in the community (volunteer for your local food bank). Anhedonia sucks, but there are ways to combat it. And it involves doing uncomfortable work.

 

[KittyGremlin]

Funny, I'm feeling anhedonia to anything on the web other than Kiwifarms, Youtube and playing Need for Speed MW '05.

 

[Ultrapenguin]

Doing things for your health helps tremendously.
Eating/taking supplements with the below in mind has had very positive results personally. Take a bunch of turmeric, eat some sardines (there's a lot of contention as to whether or not most omega 3 supplements are actually effective), drink green tea (decaf if you don't like caffeine), etc. There are a ton of natural options, it doesn't require pharmaceuticals:

https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/inflammation-and-depression-a-simplified-guide-2/

Of course the other problem is that there's a major disconnect between what people are supposed to like doing, and what society acts like people should like doing.
Can't stand filling out paperwork or doing the exact same soul crushing job every single day? Don't enjoy playing videogames or watching the newest Netflix special? Gotta have something wrong with you, maybe it's ADHD, here take some medication.
Then things that should be enjoyable and used to be thoughtless elements of everyday life, require an inordinate amount of deliberation to actually engage in.

So basically try to do things that are healthy and reduce inflammation (exercise, eat right, socialize) without obsessing or making it stressful. It's already an uphill battle as is, and if a person's physically unhealthy on top of it they won't stand much chance.

 

[sadbird]

Have trouble forming addictions?? DO KETAMINE!
No but seriously, I also have issues with anhedonia. And while it's nice to basically never be able to form an addictive habit, it can make a lot of things very hard to do (there are a lot of things that require some amount of passion to excel in). There isn't really any practical solution to make you suddenly want or love things. I've come to accept love and desire are not things you can force to happen, bitter as it sounds.
I would say i'm fairly content as a person I just happen to not want much of anything.

 

[Nick Gars]

This is an issue I deal with constantly. For me what usually helps stave it off is to shift into my creativity...

Though with AI becoming so prevalent, that's losing it's luster as well. Why spend hours creating something when an AI can do it so much better than you in a matter of seconds?

I can definitely empathize with you, we live in a dystopian hellscape where any endeavor is starting to feel utterly fruitless and you're looked at as insane if you don't just mindlessly abide the status queuo and eat up the mind dulling and self-hate inducing media shoved down your throat. At this point, my destain and hatred towards the modern world is what keeps me going. Spite is a powerful tool, especially when you know your mere existence is pissing off some worthless fuck with ill-gotten power somewhere in the world.

 

[Post Reply]

Achieve ataraxia.

 

[An Ghost]

Try a bunch of different hobbies and see what sticks. There are technical ones, expressive ones, but most are somewhere inbetween. It's a good chance to find out what kind of a thinker you are. Getting a hobby motivated me to read, learn, practice, and push myself. Finished school to get a better job to fund said hobby. I will wake up early on my days off and go out just because I want to do. I'll go to events and talk with strangers cause of it (but don't feel pressured to join any sort of club because of it). You will have setbacks and you will make mistakes but you'll never look back on it with regret. I love looking back at and sharing photos I take. I have never looked at my list of video game achievements with any sort of pride.

 

[Weed Eater]

For me the only thing that seems to still be working is music. I double down on the things I know for a fact make me feel good or feel better, and music thankfully is still one of those things.

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

Though with AI becoming so prevalent, that's losing it's luster as well. Why spend hours creating something when an AI can do it so much better than you in a matter of seconds?

I'll tell you why you keep doing it, it's because you are doing it AI might be technically good but it lacks soul always has always will even if they can add that in some way that takes nothing away from your effort because it's your god damned effort it is YOU giving life to a idea in only a way YOU CAN.

 

[Esau]

Read the Bible

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

Draw funny pictures

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Smoke weed everyday.

If you cannot get weed, smoke nutmeg.

 

[Smug]

When you start a new hobby of nearly any kind you will suck at it, and you'll likely need to keep pushing at it for at least a week or two to start really feeling any results, including any serious enjoyment.

 

[OrionBalls]

If you live in a grey place, maybe try a light box and some vitamin D supplements. I'm assuming you aren't getting out much, based on your previous post. Even if you just shitpost on your porch/stoop/roof half an hour a day, it enlarges your area, and gets you outside. Getting out of your comfort zone is very important.

 

[Heed Not]

Vitamin D and lifting weights.
Yeah yeah it's basic bitch advice, but both of those things really do help improve your mood. It's not a cure-all, but it'll give you the energy to tough it through the boring learning curves of other things you might ultimately enjoy once you get the hang of them. Also try to lose weight if you're overweight: The hormonal imbalances from obesity can cause/worsen depressive moods.

 

[SilentDuck]

There's a study from ~5 years ago that says your brain needs to see "X" number of IRL human faces per day.

Not images/videos, real world faces. You don't have to know the people, they don't have to be smiling, receptive or pleased to see you. You brain just has to see the certain number of human faces per day it wants to or you can slip into mood disorders and the kind of depression that is hard to explain (ie, you become anhedonic).

This is where people improve with walks, assuming that's a possibility for you. I don't recommend gymfagging or altering your diet and brain chemistry with meds some of the most physically unhealthy people I've ever encountered were also the happiest. It's in your brain somewhere and paying to move heavy stuff for free isn't going to cause a neurological miracle just check any weight lifting or gymcel forum.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

Serious answer: get a plant. Taking care of something helps a lot. Believe it or not, plants do listen to you when you talk to them. They probably won't have a response, but they're listening.