Wednesday, July 29th 2026
It’s not always just fatigue – prolonged anxiety can weaken the ability to feel pleasure and lead the brain into a vicious circle.
Once you looked forward to the weekend, meeting friends, your favorite series or a walk. Today, none of them make you happy anymore. You complete your tasks, smile when you should, but the feeling of satisfaction seems to have disappeared.
Many people think they are just tired or stressed. However, psychologists warn that prolonged anxiety can gradually weaken the ability to feel pleasure. This condition is called anhedonia, and it is much more common than you think.
Anxiety and lack of pleasure feed each other
Most people experience anxiety as constant worry or tension. But when it lasts for months, it not only tires the psyche, but also the organism.
Experts explain that this is how a vicious circle is created: the more anxious a person is, the less desire he has to engage in activities that once brought him pleasure. At the same time, the lack of pleasurable experiences worsens anxiety and can increase the risk of depression.
Anhedonia is not just a bad mood or a temporary drop in motivation. It is a state in which the person no longer feels pleasure from activities they once enjoyed.
It could be spending time with family, favorite food, physical activity, a hobby, music, travel or intimate relationships.
Some people feel almost no pleasure at all, while others say they know something should make them happy, but the expected feeling is simply missing.
Studies show that anhedonia is not only related to the state. psychological. Its appearance may include changes in the systems that regulate dopamine, serotonin and cortisol.
Dopamine participates in motivation and the feeling of reward, serotonin in mood regulation, while high levels of cortisol – the stress hormone, can make it difficult for the pleasure system to function normally.
For this reason, people may have the impression that nothing is interesting enough or that it is not worth the effort, reports Telegraph.
Why do some people look for comfort in food or the phone?
When the usual sources of pleasure no longer give the same effect, many people begin, without realizing it, to look for quick solutions.
Some eat more than before, someone spends hours on social networks, while others turn to alcohol or other behaviors that can create addiction.
The problem is that these “shortcuts” activate reward system only temporarily. In the long run, they can worsen anhedonia and create a need for increasingly strong stimuli.
Why aren’t drugs always the only solution?
Antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs help many people and, in certain cases, are necessary.
However, experts point out that drugs alone may not be enough to bring pleasure back into everyday life unless patterns of behavior change. behavior and coping with stress.
Treating the symptoms is important, but it is equally important for the brain to start recognizing and experiencing small sources of pleasure again.
Psychologists are increasingly talking about the concept of healthy hedonism, which is not about excess or selfishness.
It is about consciously creating space for small moments that make us good: a walk, talking with a friend, music, being in nature, physical activity, a visit to the spa or a favorite hobby.
These habits can help the brain to gradually reactivate the reward system and break the vicious cycle of anxiety and loss of pleasure.
If for weeks or months you do not feel pleasure from anything that used to make you happy, and if this condition is accompanied by constant anxiety, lack of lack of will or a feeling of emptiness, it is important to talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Losing the ability to enjoy life is not a sign of weakness, nor something to be accepted as a “normal part of stress”.
It can be one of the early signs of disorders that are successfully treated, especially when recognized and addressed in time.
Source: prizrenpost
