Why You're Unable To Feel Happy & What You Can Do About It

Remember how you used to be excited about this and that - different people and different topics? But now you’ve lost interest in all these things, activities, and people that used to excite you. This lack of interest, this feeling that nothing matters, this feeling of being dead inside, are symptoms of anhedonia. 

还记得你以前对什么事情都感兴趣 - 比如不同的人不同的话题。但现在你对所有事情，活动和人都失去兴趣了，即使你曾经对他们非常感兴趣。这种缺乏兴趣的感觉，这种认为什么都不重要的感觉，这种内心死气沉沉的感觉，是快感缺乏症的症状。

With anhedonia, the brain’s ability to feel happy, satisfied, and excited are turned off. With anhedonia, you no longer “want” anything, and even when you have something, you don’t “enjoy” it. You’ve emotionally flatlined.

快感缺乏症表示大脑缺乏感到快乐，满足和兴奋的能力。如果你患上快感缺乏症，你不再对事情感到渴望，你也不再享受你拥有的东西，你的情绪会变得消极低落。

Anhedonia can be caused by many different things, from burnout to Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or even Parkinson’s disease. However, as you might’ve already guessed, the root of anhedonia comes from depression. A study from The American Journal of Psychiatry found that people with major depression lose their sense of interest and pleasure.

快感缺乏症可以由很多不同的因素造成，比如过度劳累，创伤后应激障碍或帕金森症。然而，你可能已经猜到，快感缺乏症的原由是抑郁症。“美国精神病学杂志”的一项研究发现，重度抑郁症患者会失去对任何事物的兴趣及不能感觉到快乐。

How can things get better? Can things even get better? With any psychological struggles, anhedonia can be difficult to deal with, but as long as you don’t give up hope, it’s not impossible. Medications such as antidepressants and antipsychotics and be helpful for treating anhedonia. But you can also overcome it with different mindfulness practices. Here are a few from Full Potential Partners: 

怎么可以改善情况？事情能获得改善吗？心里有着这么多挣扎，快感缺乏症会变得很难治疗，但只要你不是去希望，一切皆有可能。抗抑郁药和抗精神病药等药物，对治疗快感缺失症有一定的帮助。但是你也可以利用不同的正念减压法来战胜它。以下是潜智为你推荐的：

#1 Take action - even if you don’t “feel” like it 行动 - 即使你不想去做

This is not a chance to be productive or to “get stuff done.” This is a chance for you to think back to what you used to love when you were a child - was it shopping for a new toy? Was it going out and getting ice cream? Was it drawing? Figure that out and spin it into adult versions for you today. Go shopping for some new clothes, go get dessert with a friend, go take an art class. Whatever it is, just do it! Don’t wait to “feel like it” because you know with anhedonia you probably won’t feel like it anyway. Just take action and do the things you (used to) love!

这不是为了有效率或把事情完成。这是为了让你回想在你小的时候你最爱做什么 - 是购买玩具吗？是逛街买冰淇淋吗？还是画画？努力回想一下然后把它转变成适合成人的。比如去买新衣服，和朋友吃甜点，去学一门艺术课。不管是什么，尽情去做。不要等到你“想要去做”，因为快感缺乏症不会让你对其感兴趣。尽情去做你（曾经）喜欢做的事情。

#2 Focus on and enjoy the small things in life 专注于并享受生活上的小事物

Anhedonia causes us to ignore the small pleasures life can bring. So take this chance and really use your five senses to notice as many things as possible. Maybe start with a piece of chocolate, taste, and smell the sweetness of the chocolate. Listen to your favorite song and really dive into the melody. 

快感缺乏症会让我们忽略生活上的点点滴滴。所以，抓住这个机会，用你的五官尽可能地感受生活中的小事情。可以从一小块巧克力开始，享受巧克力的味道和香甜。听你最喜欢的歌，深入感受其中的旋律。

#3 Exercise 运动

Exercise has been proven again and again to reduce symptoms of depression, negative thoughts, social withdrawal while boosting cognitive function and performance. Start with something small and short - maybe by consistently stretching every morning. Start with doing five push-ups before eating lunch or 10 seconds of stretching. Start small, and slowly build up an exercise routine for yourself. 

运动已经被反复证明可以缓解抑郁症症状，消极情绪，及逃避社交，同时可以提高认知能力及表现。可以从轻松和简短的运动开始，比如每天早上坚持拉伸。从午饭前5个俯卧撑或10秒钟的拉伸开始。从小开始，慢慢为自己建立一个健身计划流程。

These are just a few suggestions from us. But if none of these work for you, there are many other things you can do to pick yourself up once again. For example, join this event below to learn how you can BOOST your performance! Click the flyer or scan the QR code to get your tickets now!

这只是我们提供以几个建议。如果对你来说都没有效果，你可以尝试更多的方法来让自己重拾生活。如果你不知道从哪开始，可以加入下面的活动，学习如何提高你的表现！赶快点击以下的传单或扫描二维码来购买您的门票！