What is "anhedonia"

"inability to feel pleasure," 1897, from French anhédonie, coined 1896 by French psychologist Theodule Ribot (1839-1916) as an opposite to analgesia, from Greek an-, privative prefix (see an- (1)), + hedone "pleasure" (see hedonist) + abstract noun ending -ia.

n. (context symptom psychiatry English) The inability to feel pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, such as exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions.

n. an inability to experience pleasure

Anhedonia ( ; Greek: ἀν- an-, "without" and ἡδονή hēdonē, "pleasure") is the inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, e.g. exercise, hobbies, music, sexual activities or social interactions. While earlier definitions of anhedonia emphasized pleasurable experience, more recent models have highlighted the need to consider different aspects of enjoyable behavior, such as motivation or desire to engage in activities (motivational anhedonia), as compared to the level of enjoyment of the activity itself ("consummatory anhedonia").

According to William James, the term was coined by Théodule-Armand Ribot.

One can distinguish many kinds of pathological depression. Sometimes it is mere passive joylessness and dreariness, discouragement, dejection, lack of taste and zest and spring. Professor Ribot proposed the name anhedonia to designate this condition. "The state of anhedonia, if I may coin a new word to pair off with analgesia," he writes, "has been very little studied, but it exists."

Anhedonia can be a characteristic of mental disorders, including mood disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder, schizoid personality disorder, dysthymia and schizophrenia. For example, the 7th DSM-IV criterion for Borderline Personality Disorder: "chronic feelings of emptiness." Results indicate that emptiness is negligibly related to boredom, is closely related to feeling hopeless, pathologically lonely, and isolated, and is a robust predictor of depression and suicidal ideation (but not anxiety or suicide attempts). Findings are consistent with DSM-IV revisions regarding the 7th criterion for Borderline Personality Disorder. In addition, findings suggest the emptiness reflects pathologically low positive affect and significant psychiatric distress. People affected with schizophrenia often describe themselves as feeling emotionally empty.

Mood disturbances are commonly observed in many psychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder. Disturbing mood changes may occur resultant to stressful life events and they are not uncommon during times of physical illness. While anhedonia can be a feature of such mood changes, they are not mutually inclusive.

Anhedonia is the debut album by American rock band The Graduate. The tracks "Sit & Sink" and "Justified" were featured on their previous Horror Show EP and were re-recorded for this album. The album title is a reference to Anhedonia, the psychological condition of being unable to feel joy or excitement from normally pleasurable acts, such as social or sexual interactions.

Anhedonia is the fourth album by the American hard rock band Burning Brides. It was released independently on June 10, 2008 by the band. The 2009 rock and roll vampire film Suck features two songs from Anhedonia, "If One Of Us Goes Further" and "Flesh And Bone." Brides frontman Dimitri Coats stars in the movie alongside Malcolm McDowell, Alice Cooper, and Iggy Pop.

Anhedonia is an inability to experience pleasurable emotions from normally pleasurable life events.

Anhedonia may also refer to:

• Anhedonia (Burning Brides album)
• Anhedonia (The Graduate album)
• Anhedonia, the working title for the 1977 film Annie Hall