Anhedonia

Can philosophers help resolve the real problems that people have in their lives?

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Dalek Prime
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Anhedonia

Post by Dalek Prime »

Who was it who was discussing his anhedonia? Mozart Link or something? Because I'm hitting the same wall, and it's really sucking. I care enough to care that I have it, and don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but that's pretty much all I care about anymore.
Dubious
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Dubious »

Dalek Prime wrote: Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:50 pm Who was it who was discussing his anhedonia? Mozart Link or something? Because I'm hitting the same wall, and it's really sucking. I care enough to care that I have it, and don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but that's pretty much all I care about anymore.
Don't know how old you are or how long you've had this pleasure deprivation but don't you think it may only be temporary? Things don't always flow with the same intensity. Or perhaps the things which satisfied in the past have just worn themselves out and you haven't yet discovered replacements? I think the worst you can do is to force yourself into feeling what you used to feel. That kind of concern makes it worse since pleasure is mostly spontaneous and can't be forced by demand but it's not unlikely that new sources of it can be learned. Maybe its time to mine other sources...but that's just my view.
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-1-
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by -1- »

Psychological / psychiatric assessors will ask any patient, "how's been your appetite, sleep, and the things you used to find everyday joy in, are they gone flat?"

If the assessed person says "my appetite is down, I don't sleep well, and things are not as enjoyable" the first thing that pops into the examiner's mind, is "oops. this person is depressed."

There are other ways to get to anhedonia. Heavy drug users don't enjoy sex, especially if they hook for supporting their drug habit.

Then there is old age. By sixty, half the taste buds in a person's tongue die off.

When your hormone levels fall, your sexual drive falls (due to aging, for instance).

By eighty you start to lose the feeling in your finger tips.

Then there is the dreaded "I know it all" feeling that comes with old age. The fact that there is nothing new under the sun... been there, done that. Along with the lack of the new comes the lack of excitement, and along comes boredom.

Old Man

I go into the bedroom
Sit down at my desk
Stare at the computer
Then walk away again.

In the living room there’s nothing.
It’s quiet. No TV, no noise
No music playing loudly
No music playing soft.

I count the empty minutes
For hours at end
I stand up, turn my head
To the phone I move my hand.

There is nothing to do
When you’re dumb with pain
When there’s a big snowfall
Or heavy, heavy rain.

When your lover’s left you
Or you left, just the same
When your grandkids and your children
Go home once again.

Your wife’s in a stranger’s arms now
Or perhaps in the grave,
She left you too, like nothing
Or you made one big mistake.

The boys with whom you hung out
In green hills on the hunt
Are toothless, smelly old men
With canes they sit around.

You have some memories, if you’re lucky
That will get you through the day
Their stale taste makes you moody
They’ve lost their edge, their shape.

The arm, that once was mighty,
The legs that ran you fast,
Your heart that once was racing
Whenever a skirt went past,

Your liver, your eyes, your hearing
Your touch, your sense of smell
Receive little bearing
From your presence, from your will.

You wish you were a dog now
Or a pussy, pussy cat
You’d have no worries
Of the kind: Now what?

What will happen when you exit?
Who’ll remember you?
Who waits for you, dammit,
Zen, or Manitou?

Is Jesus gonna greet you
With open arms, with glee,
Or Tao with a plateful
Of roast duck and green tea?

What if there’s nothing
After your functions stop
What if there is hellfire,
Brimstone, burning mud?

You count the empty hours
And wish that it would come
It would come and it would come
It would come and would come.
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Strange, because your online personality comes across as upbeat and positive.
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by -1- »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:02 pm Strange, because your online personality comes across as upbeat and positive.
Yeah. When I am in a social situation, I forget all about my worries, about my cares. I enjoy expressing myself. The world stops, time stops still, when I am expressing myself. It's good.

I used to know a dude who was similar, he was constantly in an existential crisis and the most profound way, unless he was busy with something. Work, play, whatever. I lost touch with him when he got married and had kids. That kept him busy, I guess.
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henry quirk
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keep breathin', Dal

Post by henry quirk »

.
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

-1- wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 3:19 pm
vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:02 pm Strange, because your online personality comes across as upbeat and positive.
Yeah. When I am in a social situation, I forget all about my worries, about my cares. I enjoy expressing myself. The world stops, time stops still, when I am expressing myself. It's good.

I used to know a dude who was similar, he was constantly in an existential crisis and the most profound way, unless he was busy with something. Work, play, whatever. I lost touch with him when he got married and had kids. That kept him busy, I guess.
I meant Dalek. You have it too? It sounds like a fancy name for depression.
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Greta
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Greta »

Probably best not to worry about it. Sometimes we go through shitty times that seem endless. However, we underestimate how suddenly life can utterly turn when we least expect it! Never count your chickens before they hatch because suddenly those ostensibly shitty times can transform into entirely different kinds of shitty times. One day you may look fondly back upon these shitty times. Or you might not.
Dalek Prime
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Dalek Prime »

I'm trying to work this out while I'm typing, to keep it real, so bear with me if it doesn't always flow....

I think part of it is that I took in a youngish woman to help her out of a bad situation. It's coming up to a year now, and I pretty much find my privacy cramped. There is an end to this, hopefully, by next spring, but I'm finding it difficult to just be myself and relax, with her here, and am most anxiously awaiting when she flies the coup... When I'm not at home, everyone else wants a piece of my time, just to talk my ear off. I can't focus on anything, because I'm always worn out when I do get a moment to settle. And being an intuitive introvert does not help the situation, as I can't recharge my batteries, as it were... if I can make it to her moving date without losing it, I may have a chance to breath again, and renew interests that can keep me occupied. But I don't see that while she's here. I even told her I need to live alone, but her time here has made her complacent, and resistant to leaving. She just doesn't seem to care that, whilst I'm helping her, I'm not helping myself as I should.... I am trying to keep it together, but it's more a static existence I'm living, than anything eventful or fulfilling. And I'm not getting any younger.

I have read all your thoughts on this, and I do appreciate them. They do help. Thanks folks.

Addendum: I realise now that I'm growing resentful of her, when all I wanted to do was help. Perhaps that's what this is; not anhedonia per se, but putting away my expectations into a cramped little box, and caring for others, when I should be doing for myself.

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I'm holding in my real feelings so much, when I really need to just speak my mind.
Dalek Prime
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Dalek Prime »

I've decided to take up a tai chi class, just to motivate myself. Starts in September, but its something to look forward to. Either start doing something, or do nothing, right?
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

Dalek Prime wrote: Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:50 pm Who was it who was discussing his anhedonia? Mozart Link or something? Because I'm hitting the same wall, and it's really sucking. I care enough to care that I have it, and don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but that's pretty much all I care about anymore.
Does it help to do something pleasurable such as eating?

🇺🇲PhilX🇺🇲
Dalek Prime
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Dalek Prime »

Philosophy Explorer wrote: Mon Aug 06, 2018 7:38 pm
Dalek Prime wrote: Sat Aug 04, 2018 7:50 pm Who was it who was discussing his anhedonia? Mozart Link or something? Because I'm hitting the same wall, and it's really sucking. I care enough to care that I have it, and don't want to go down the rabbit hole, but that's pretty much all I care about anymore.
Does it help to do something pleasurable such as eating?

🇺🇲PhilX🇺🇲
Not usually. It's more like filling a need to keep my glucose levels up, because I'll be ill otherwise. It often fits into the category of daily chores. But I do it because I don't want to sink further. I do have hope, and a will to combat this though. But many things that once gave me pleasure, or at least kept me occupied, are not doing it for me. Still, I will persist in finding something.

I won't give up trying. I may not be a quitter when it comes to smoking, but I won't quit on trying to live as happily as I can.... Arghhh! That comparison doesn't work lol!

I keep trying to remember that old saying, 'this too shall pass'.
Dalek Prime
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Dalek Prime »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 12:02 pm Strange, because your online personality comes across as upbeat and positive.
I'm a pessimist with a perverse sense of humour, veg. It's what keeps me going. Think 'Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'. I think that's what you may see in my persona; resignation whilst heckling the gods. I just hope 'they' are not paying attention to it. :lol:
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Re: Anhedonia

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

Don't give up hope.

Someone well known to me lost his telemarketing job due to a stuttering problem that developed. He tried speech therapy that didn't work. His MRI (checking for a stroke) came back negative.

Finally was diagnosed as a diabetic and prescribed medication. His stuttering and swelling sensation in his face completely disappeared over 20 years ago (even when he temporarily stopped taking the medication) and he considers himself cured.

Dalek, since you never experienced pleasure, then maybe you're not in such a bad position. Do you feel unfulfilled?

🇺🇲PhilX🇺🇲
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henry quirk
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'this too shall pass'

Post by henry quirk »

But it might not.

Got keep breathin' anyway, Dal.
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