Anhedonia

Anhedonia (from the Greek ἀν– , an , “not” + ἡδονή , hēdonḗ, “lust”) generally means the inability to feel joy and pleasure.

psychiatry

In clinical psychology and psychopathology , the term is used to describe the symptoms of various mental disorders .

In depression , anhedonia is a central feature as a reduction in positive reactions in both the number and quality of happy reactions.
In survivor syndrome , it refers to the persistent inability to enjoy distractions.

Anhedonia, as a lack of pleasure in situations that are normally enjoyable, can occur in schizophrenia as a basic disorder in the context of negative symptoms . Furthermore, anhedonia can be observed in schizoid , schizotypic , anxious-avoidant and dissocial personality disorders , psychoses , addictions , psychosomatoses , and sometimes also in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . It can also occur in people who have been using stimulants for a long period of time .

Anhedonia is related to alexithymia , although this is weaker or stronger depending on the disorder.

Irrespective of whether depression is present at the same time, anhedonia is more frequently associated with the occurrence of suicidal thoughts.

treatment

For anhedonia related to depression, most antidepressants have beneficial effects on anhedonia and other depressive symptoms. Only combination therapy with escitalopram and riluzole is ineffective in the treatment of anhedonia in depression.

history

The term was coined in the 19th century by French psychologist Théodule Ribot in the psychology introduced. In 1924, Carl Stumpf described musical anhedonia. In the 1960s, both Sándor Radó and Paul E. Meehl attributed anhedonia to genetically determined neuronal defects. Loren J. Chapman and Michael Mishlove first distinguished between physical and social anhedonia:

Physical anhedonia is the inability to enjoy non-social events or to process physical experiences as pleasant.
Social anhedonia is characterized by decreased social activity and social withdrawal.

Robert H. Dworkin gave first indications of a connection between anhedonia and alexithymia , as the inability to adequately perceive and describe feelings. In 1984 he saw both social anhedonia and alexithymia as consequences of introverted and depressive character traits. Jonathan D. Prince and Berenbaum Howard disproved the mediating role of depression that Dworkin suspected in 1993. They were able to show that social anhedonia is also associated with alexithymia independently of depression and negative affects. Gwenolé Loas (1997) was unable to find a connection between physical anhedonia and alexithymia. The connection of anhedonia and its sub-forms with alexithymia as well as the interactions with various other clinical pictures have not been systematically researched until today (status 2010).

Burkhard Pflug was able to highlight the special importance of anhedonia in all depressive illnesses as early as 1990. In current clinical psychiatry , anhedonia is primarily understood as a symptom of depressive illness. In the case of schizophrenic diseases, the term negative symptoms is assigned (see Symptoms and Diagnosis of Schizophrenia ).

Movie

The German satirical feature film Anhedonia - Narcissism as anesthesia from 2015 has the symptom in the title. The two main characters in the film go to a coastal psychotherapeutic clinic because of the resulting psychological stress. Anhedonia was the working title of the film Der Stadtneurotiker (English Annie Hall ) by American director Woody Allen .

literature

Hans Heimann (Ed.): Anhedonia. Loss of joie de vivre . A central phenomenon of mental disorders. Gustav Fischer Verlag , Stuttgart 1990.

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Andreas Krüger: Alexithymia and anhedonia in psychosomatic patients - a clinical investigation , dissertation, Hamburg 2000, pp. 20–24.
↑ Déborah Ducasse, Gwenolé Loas, Déborah Dassa, Carla Gramaglia, Patrizia Zeppegno: Anhedonia is associated with suicidal ideation independently of depression: A meta-analysis . In: Depression and Anxiety . tape 35 , no. 5 , December 12, 2017, ISSN 1091-4269 , p. 382–392 , doi : 10.1002 / da.22709 ( wiley.com [accessed November 27, 2018]).
Jump up ↑ Bing Cao, Judy Zhu, Hannah Zuckerman, Joshua D. Rosenblat, Elisa Brietzke: Pharmacological interventions targeting anhedonia in patients with major depressive disorder: A systematic review . In: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry . tape 92 , June 2019, p. 109–117 , doi : 10.1016 / j.pnpbp.2019.01.002 ( elsevier.com [accessed May 19, 2020]).
↑ C. Stumpf: Loss of feelings in tone areas (musical anhedonia) , in: "Contributions to acoustics and musicology", Volume 9, 1924, pages 1-16.
^ Mike Medavoy: You're Only as Good as Your Next One. 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot. Simon and Schuster, New York 2013 p. 107.

[Hamburg_2000-1] Andreas Krüger: Alexithymia and anhedonia in psychosomatic patients - a clinical investigation , dissertation, Hamburg 2000, pp. 20–24.

[2] Déborah Ducasse, Gwenolé Loas, Déborah Dassa, Carla Gramaglia, Patrizia Zeppegno: Anhedonia is associated with suicidal ideation independently of depression: A meta-analysis . In: Depression and Anxiety . tape 35 , no. 5 , December 12, 2017, ISSN 1091-4269 , p. 382–392 , doi : 10.1002 / da.22709 ( wiley.com [accessed November 27, 2018]).

[3] Jump up ↑ Bing Cao, Judy Zhu, Hannah Zuckerman, Joshua D. Rosenblat, Elisa Brietzke: Pharmacological interventions targeting anhedonia in patients with major depressive disorder: A systematic review . In: Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry . tape 92 , June 2019, p. 109–117 , doi : 10.1016 / j.pnpbp.2019.01.002 ( elsevier.com [accessed May 19, 2020]).

[4] C. Stumpf: Loss of feelings in tone areas (musical anhedonia) , in: "Contributions to acoustics and musicology", Volume 9, 1924, pages 1-16.

[5] Mike Medavoy: You're Only as Good as Your Next One. 100 Great Films, 100 Good Films, and 100 for Which I Should Be Shot. Simon and Schuster, New York 2013 p. 107.