What causes anhedonia? How can it be cured?

[Superfluo]

@Vision I have several posts on healing (see my signature). Check them out to learn psychotherapeutic healing modalities.

[ZenAlex]

- Healthy diet

- Exercise

- Good sleep

- No alcohol, drugs

- Technology detox (Porn, video games, tv, streaming sites)

- Nature

- Good music

- therapy, self awareness etc

It can help. 

Edited July 5, 2022 by ZenAlex

[Average Investor]

10 hours ago, Vision said:

 So is the only point of the test to see whether the chelating is actually working?

Why would you not recommend a provoked urine test altogether exactly? 

Just my personal take on it. The only way to really know how much metals are stored in you body is autopsy. I am sure someone could make some educated guesses with a provoked test.

Another issue I find is that a lot of the symptoms for heavy metal toxicity are pretty vague. It seems like there is so many possibilities of what it could cause. So diagnosis is quite difficult.

Personally, I would track all of my symptoms and see how they react to chelation. If I continue to feel better, then that could be a green light for more. With ACC it shows a dip of not feeling great. It seems the same with other chelation protocols as well. 

[Anirban657]

10 hours ago, Vision said:

@Anirban657 What medication were you prescribed? How long did you have to take it for to get cured?

It feels kind of surreal to see anecdotes like these. I’ve only had negative experiences with the medication they gave me. I think they are a hit or miss. A common cause of anhedonia from what I’ve seen on the subreddit is SSRIs. 

@Vision I had psychosis and bipolar disorder with depression and suicidal ideations. At the time,4-5years ago when the doctor diagnosed me with anhedonia I was having mania. They prescribed me 5-6medicines which I don’t remember the name. But they prescribed me medicines for anhedonia. Right now I am taking anti-psychotics, anti-depressants and other medicines as per prescription by doctors. 
I would say in 2-3months from prescription I felt much better. From severe depression I finished my high schooling and joined college and overcome my severe social anxiety and despair. 
Anhedonia was there because of depression. Once the depression is cured, anhedonia won’t exist. 
I would say don’t worry about anhedonia all by yourself. See a good doctor and let them take care of you. Have faith in the doctor and trust the process.

[flowboy]

Depression is the superlative case of repression.

Repression = pushing away (emotional) pain.

With each bit of pain that is repressed, a bit of your wholeness and sense of meaning and authentic desire goes with it.

Therefore when there is too much to repress, you lose most of the sense of meaning and desire that is inherent to being an alive human.

The way out of depression is to choose to feel more of what is repressed, thereby lifting the depression.

Some depressed people are actually really angry, but unable to cope with that and process that fully, so hence they are depressed.

Other common feelings are sadness, grief and hopelessness.

The less you push these away, the more you will feel.

The more you feel, the more emotional pain you feel, but also the less depressed you are.

And after feeling the pain, bliss and insight follows.

That's not to say that you can just make that decision from any situation.

Repression is there for a reason.

Are you currently in a condition to handle emotional pain?

Is your life stable?

Do you have the time, space and guidance needed?

If not, then the first thing to do is to go get that.

Set your life up in a way that makes it possible to process some repressed feelings in a safe way.

If that means working a day less at your job, do that.

If it means temporarily removing yourself from a toxic family system that doesn't accept and hold space for your feelings, cutting off contact and going to live on a friend's couch, do that.

If it means getting a therapist, coach or mentor, do that.

If it means reaching out to a friend even though it's hard, do that.

[Ulax]

On 05/07/2022 at 6:33 AM, Vision said:

@Ulax Thanks. What is somatic experiencing? And did you work with an IFS Certified Therapist from the IFS Institute?

 

Thank you! Did you work with an IFS Certified Therapist from the IFS institute Michael?

@Ulax @Michael569 Do you guys think it’s plausible to think that one can have lots of trauma but not be aware of it?

Answering 1st set of questions

- What is somatic experiencing?

https://www.healthline.com/health/somatic-experiencing#the-freeze-response

- Did you work with an IFS Certified Therapist from the IFS Institute?

Yes. A level 3.

Answering 2nd set of questions

- Do you guys think it’s plausible to think that one can have lots of trauma but not be aware of it?

Yes. If you only live your life seeing things through one perspective, then you tend to think that is how life is. It makes sense as you have never experienced anything else. Therefore, you can live a life where you have deep trauma, but because you've never experienced anything else, you just think that is just how life is.

Also, there's a phenomena called 'idealization' (Alice Miller termed this, to my knowledge). Where those who suffer traumatic childhood idealize their childhoods, such that when they reflect on their childhoods they see it as being a happy time, though it wasn't.

[Ulax]

On 04/07/2022 at 1:25 PM, Michael569 said:

Also what @Ulax said above. Internal  Family Systems is a method worth exploring. I have recently started applying this method to myself and it feels like vacuum cleaning your house with a weak machine for years and then getting a Dyson. "holly shit where is all this stuff coming from, I thought I did all the work" that's how it felt. Would highly recommend giving IFS a shot alongside what you already do in terms of health recovery. A good way to start is to read "no bad parts" by Richard Schwartz. But you gotta do the exercises, this is not a "read only" book. This is a workbook and you can't skip a single exercise.

 

Also, cool to see another IFS user on the forum, @Michael569. There's a few of us now.

Am curious to continue reading 'no bad parts'. Have it bookmarked for a future date.

You might like Jay Earley's Self therapy series btw. He's an IFS therapist who wrote a series of books explaining a step-by-step way of doing the therapy on yourself.

Either way, good luck with the IFS. 

P.s. What process do you use for unblending?

[Vision]

@Michael569 Thanks for your input. Need to fire on all cylinders right? 

[Vision]

On 7/5/2022 at 10:23 PM, Superfluo said:

@Vision I have several posts on healing (see my signature). Check them out to learn psychotherapeutic healing modalities.

@Superfluo You don't seem to have a signature currently. Could you link the posts please? 

 

On 7/6/2022 at 4:32 AM, Anirban657 said:

@Vision I had psychosis and bipolar disorder with depression and suicidal ideations. At the time,4-5years ago when the doctor diagnosed me with anhedonia I was having mania. They prescribed me 5-6medicines which I don’t remember the name. But they prescribed me medicines for anhedonia. Right now I am taking anti-psychotics, anti-depressants and other medicines as per prescription by doctors. 
I would say in 2-3months from prescription I felt much better. From severe depression I finished my high schooling and joined college and overcome my severe social anxiety and despair. 
Anhedonia was there because of depression. Once the depression is cured, anhedonia won’t exist. 

@Anirban657 How long will you be taking the medications for? 
 

On 7/6/2022 at 4:32 AM, Anirban657 said:

I would say don’t worry about anhedonia all by yourself. See a good doctor and let them take care of you. Have faith in the doctor and trust the process.

Key thing here is "good doctor". Last time I put my faith in a doctor I almost died to suicide, had they given me warnings about the medication they prescribed it wouldn't have been so bad... because I wouldn't have taken it in the first place knowing how risky it is for people under 18. 

[Vision]

@flowboy

Quote

The way out of depression is to choose to feel more of what is repressed, thereby lifting the depression.

How can I know whether I am repressing something? I don't feel like I am repressing anything. 

Quote

Are you currently in a condition to handle emotional pain?

Yes. I'll take on any pain that will help get me out of this.

[Vision]

On 09/07/2022 at 0:54 AM, Ulax said:

What is somatic experiencing?

https://www.healthline.com/health/somatic-experiencing#the-freeze-response

 

I read the article. This is part of what it says:

 

”Only certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioners (SEP) have specific training in this type of somatic therapy. If you’re considering giving SE a try, look for a therapist with the SEP credential.”

@Ulax Have you done this before?

On 09/07/2022 at 0:54 AM, Ulax said:

Did you work with an IFS Certified Therapist from the IFS Institute?

Yes. A level 3.

 

How did it go? Do you think you got results from it?

 

On 09/07/2022 at 0:54 AM, Ulax said:

Do you guys think it’s plausible to think that one can have lots of trauma but not be aware of it?

Yes. If you only live your life seeing things through one perspective, then you tend to think that is how life is. It makes sense as you have never experienced anything else. Therefore, you can live a life where you have deep trauma, but because you've never experienced anything else, you just think that is just how life is.

Also, there's a phenomena called 'idealization' (Alice Miller termed this, to my knowledge). Where those who suffer traumatic childhood idealize their childhoods, such that when they reflect on their childhoods they see it as being a happy time, though it wasn't.

That is gold. It’s like if you were near sighted your entire life but just thought that is how reality is, until you put on glasses for the first time. Right?

[Superfluo]

@Vision

My posts on healing:

 

[flowboy]

On 09/07/2022 at 1:22 PM, Vision said:

@flowboy

How can I know whether I am repressing something? I don't feel like I am repressing anything. 

Yes. I'll take on any pain that will help get me out of this.

If you were not repressing anything then you would have a full vividly experienced emotional range, the sensory experience of simply living would be so satisfying and rich that you can hardly bring yourself to do any unhealthy habit on top of it, your level of empathy would be deep and come naturally, life would feel rich and meaningful without having to do much, and you'd be very emotionally stable. Also you'd have vivid childhood memories that go back till birth.

Most of us are repressing some stuff

Some of us - a lot. That can turn into depression.

How can you know?

The telltale signs are numbness to certain experiences and overreaction to some others. Anything but what was described above.

How can you discover it?

Talk to someone who knows how to spot this and who can help you use that as a starting place for healing. (Healing basically being using a systematic process for digging up repressed feelings and integrating them, each piece enriching your life experience until you are no longer experiencing depression)

If you want to go the therapist route, look for someone who does Schema therapy, Reichian therapy, Emotional Release Therapy, or Primal therapy.

ERT and Reichian therapy are done physically. One session should be enough to see if it works on you.

The most important part is that you feel like they get you and you trust them.