Through counseling you can discover what may be causing your depression and work with your counselor/therapist to make life changes to ease difficult symptoms. Humans don’t merely indulge in eating to survive, in intimacy to reproduce or care for their children to maintain their health alone.

People are inclined to seek or participate in a lot of these activities because they give them enjoyment. It is easy to understand the pleasure a person gets from eating, hobbies, music, exercise, social interactions, and caring for their children, etc., but there are certain aspects about it that are a bit more complicated.

So, what happens when your ability to find joy in the things you do is diminished, or worse, lost? Major depressive episodes and other forms of mood disorders can do that to you; this is called anhedonia.

Why Do You Seek Enjoyment?

You seek enjoyment as it is the incentive that draws you to do certain things that reward your senses. Sigmund Freud views pleasure as the feedback mechanism that you developed to motivate yourself to move toward what makes you happy and away from negative emotions such as pain or frustration.

Biologically, studies show that pleasure is deeply rooted in the brain. You are likely to experience it in your brain even with only moderate indulgence. If you have an altered brain function with blunted dopamine systems, you need more exposures to reach the same level of fulfillment with addiction, or not experience any joy at all with anhedonia.

The Despair You Must Overcome

Be aware that losing interest in things or activities that you used to enjoy is a symptom of a major depressive episode or some other mood disorder. While feeling sad after you lose someone or something important is natural, depression is not. Its diagnosis can be based on reported symptoms such as despair, despondency, and lethargy, as well as changed patterns of sleep and loss of appetite. Clinical depression is characterized by anhedonia and is often defined as the “lack of ability to feel pleasure.”

Joy Is Important

You probably choose to do most of the things you do and make your choices based on what can give you joy. If joy is taken out of the equation, it would seem like everything you are doing is work. Imagine life without fun. What motivation do you have to eat, to hang out with people from school or work, or even have a hobby?

Finding Joy Again

Joy is possible after Depression. Like anyone else, you can find joy even with moderate indulgence once your depression has been successfully treated. It helps to live a “clean” life without drugs or alcohol, and with exercise, enough sleep, social interactions and enjoyable activities, but you may not be able to just snap out of this state. Depression is a disorder. You may need to commit to short-long-term medical treatment and/or counseling to recover from major depression.

What Next?

Acknowledging that you may need help and seeking it from a professional could be one of the kindest things you do for yourself. It can take a lot of courage to take that first step. Call Carolina Counseling Services – Southern Pines, NC to have any questions or concerns addressed and to schedule your first appointment. The independently contracted counselors are fully licensed and ready to help you. Call today!

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