If You’re in Crisis with Anhedonia 

Or if you’re thinking of hurting yourself in any way:

In the US: National Suicide Prevention Hotline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) is available 24 hours a day. Website: http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Internationally: http://suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html has a list of international suicide hotlines and websites by country. 

To find a therapist or other professional for emotional flatlining or anhedonia, ask your doctor. Religious or spiritual leaders can also be good resources, and of course family and friends. 

Anhedonia Assessments

Below is a list of some of the psychological instruments that can be used to assess anhedonia or aspects of anhedonia. You will need to find a doctor or mental health professional to take one of these assessments and/or diagnose anhedonia.

• Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHPS or SHAPS) (most popular)
• Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS)
• Schedule for the Deficit Syndrome (SDS)
• Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)
• Scale for Emotional Blunting (SEB)
• Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS)
• Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS)
• Revised Physical Anhedonia Scale (R-PAS)
• The Fawcett-Clark PleasureScale (FCPS)

Research & Articles on Anhedonia

A lot of leading-edge information on gut health and the connection with brain function is relatively new. Here are a few resources to help you learn more about these ideas in general.

Brain Regions Affect by Anhedonia This is an academic article describing the reward mechanism in the brain affected by anhedonia and depression. https://academic.oup.com/ijnp/article/22/2/105/5098511?utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=in-text-link 

RadioLab Gut Series RadioLab out of New York did a 3-part series on the gut and actually makes the ideas interesting and fun. This link contains 3 different interviews, and the second one on “Gut Feelings” is particularly relevant for gut health and mental health. Click on the link to listen to all three interviews, and click on the “Gut Feelings” link to listen to the second one. http://www.radiolab.org/story/197112-guts

New research on Positive Affect Treatment (PAT): This seems to be one of the more promising research studies on anhedonia. PAT is a similar approach to what we use in the Emotional Flatlining Brain Training Program (Tab above on Overcoming Flatlining).https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27699943/  

“Think Twice: How the Gut’s “Second Brain” Influences Mood and Well-Being” from Scientific American. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/ 

Gut Feelings: The Future of Psychiatry may be Inside Your Stomach http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/21/4595712/gut-feelings-the-future-of-psychiatry-may-be-inside-your-stomach 

Gut Microbiotia Worldwatch – This is a nice site for learning more about the bacteria in our gut and the role they play in good health, though it does not addess the relationship between gut health and mental health.   http://www.gutmicrobiotawatch.org/ 

Article on Musical Anhedonia: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/people-who-dont-like-music-arent-dead-inside-they-might-have-a-disorder 

The Gut Microbiome and Diet in Depression Medscape article.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/836260_4 

How Gut Bacteria Help Make us Fat or Thin  Scientific American article.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gut-bacteria-help-make-us-fat-and-thin/ 

The Brain-Gut Connection article from Johns Hopkins Medicine http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/healthy_aging/healthy_body/the-brain-gut-connection

“Gut–brain axis: how the microbiome influences anxiety and depression” (This is an abstract and you have to purchase the article)http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166223613000088

“Mind-altering microorganisms: The impact of the gut microbiota on brain and behavior” http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v13/n10/abs/nrn3346.html

“The Neurobiological Mechanisms of Anhedonia“
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181880/ 

“Scientists Identify potential target for treating anhedonia – major source of depression” http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-potential-anhedonia-major.html 

“Is there such a thing as too much happiness? deep brain stimulation and the ethical dilemma“
http://www.academia.edu/1217880/How_Happy_Is_Too_Happy_Euphoria_Neuroethics_and_Deep_Brain_Stimulation_of_the_Nucleus_Accumbens