Anhedonia

Anhedonia (Greek: ἀνηδονία, from ἀν- (án- 'not, un-') + ἡδονή (hēdonḗ 'pleasure') + -ία (ía 'abstract noun suffix') is a psychological state of inability to feel pleasure, interest or enjoyment. A person with anhedonia would generally not look forward to or enjoy doing activities most would consider enjoyable, even if they themselves previously found it enjoyable or rewarding. Anhedonia often manifests as a profound emotional numbness and apathy, some patients describing the condition as if “the world became grey and gloomy”. Formally, anhedonia is defined as “diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities.” It was first defined by Théodule-Armand Ribot in 1896.

A similar state to anhedonia is apathy, characterised by a lack of interest, motivation or desire. A person with anhedonia lacks the ability to experience pleasure (“I can’t feel good”), while a person with apathy would feel an almost complete disinterest in any activity, and lack the ability to experience negative emotions as well as the positive (“I feel nothing”). Anhedonia and apathy can be difficult to tell apart, as they reinforce one another and often occur together. A possible differentiation factor for anhedonia is to tell whether a previously enjoyable activity is now perceived as dull, boring or uninteresting.

Anhedonia is often a symptom of a mental disorder, occurring roughly in 70% of people with a major depressive disorder or dysthymia. It is also a potential negative symptom of schizophrenia, Schizoid personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, Parkinson’s disease, relapse of a substance-related disorder, and less commonly attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or eating disorders.

Other websites

• No Pleasure, No Reward
• Discussion of male orgasmic dysfunction (ejaculation without orgasm) on the Sexual Health Forums of HisandHerHealth.com Archived 2008-12-04 at the Wayback Machine