They have begun recruiting 210 patients to be part of a five-year randomized trial. Psychiatry professors Moria Smoski of Duke University Medical Center and Gabriel Dichter of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine are co-leading one of the first clinical trials targeting this condition with customized talk therapy. In addition, some clinicians report preliminary evidence showing the anesthetic ketamine might be useful in treating anhedonia.
Several involve drug treatments, ranging from a dietary supplement to a form of amphetamine to experimental medications. Drugs commonly used for depression such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can help relieve hopelessness and other negative feelings but they do not necessarily promote positive feelings or joy.įortunately for sufferers, dozens of studies looking at anhedonia are currently underway or have recently been completed. The condition is difficult to treat successfully. Anhedonia is also associated with a poor prognosis, including heightened risk of suicidal thoughts. The biology of anhedonia is not well understood, although it has been linked to abnormal volume in brain structures related to seeking rewards and, according to brain scans, less activity in these areas. It also afflicts some people with bipolar disorder, substance abuse and Parkinson’s disease as well as an unknown number of individuals with no other diagnosed brain disorder. Finding the motivation to socialize, take action in the world and access life’s rewards is painfully elusive for them.Īnhedonia is a common symptom of depression and one of the so-called “negative symptoms” of schizophrenia (as opposed to “positive” ones such as delusions), but it is not present in all patients with these illnesses. They are not necessarily sad, but feel very little pleasure in daily existence-or none at all. People who suffer from a condition called anhedonia find it hard to enjoy much of anything. Imagine living a life without the ability to relish the delectable sweetness of ice cream, the joy of getting together with an old friend or a small triumph at work.
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