When our brain chooses not to feel so as not to suffer

Anhedonia is a disorder that afflicts an increasing number of people. This is somewhat worrying, since the inability to feel pleasure considerably decreases the quality of life. We explain it to you below.

Suffering is not a personal choice, no one chooses pain or emotional isolation of their own free will. However, There is no anesthesia to avoid suffering, dark times must be faced with fortitude, courage and renewed hopes.

Life is not always easy. We are told this phrase very often, and those who until now have been lucky enough not to be “touched” by adversity, do not yet understand the realism of these words.

Living is facing challenges, building one, two, six or more projects, it is allowing happiness to embrace our lives, and accepting that, From time to time, suffering will knock on our door to test us.

And no, not all of us take those blows that life brings us in the same way. There are those who cope better with disappointments and those, for their part, internalize them, allowing them to undermine their self-esteem.

No sadness is experienced in the same way, just as no depression has the same origin, nor is it experienced the same in all people.

However, there is a very common symptom that, in some way,, We will all have experienced at some point: anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure and enjoy things. When we experience anhedonia our brain, so to speak, “decides to disconnect”, not to feel so as not to suffer, isolate itself, remain anesthetized.

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You may have felt it for a few days, when apathy and discouragement grip you. Now… what happens when it becomes chronic? What happens when we chronically stop “feeling life” completely? Today we want to discuss this topic to offer you strategies to help you and delve into this very important aspect.

Anhedonia, when we lose the pleasure of living

As we indicated at the beginning, there is no adequate anesthesia for the pain of life. When anhedonia appears in our brain as a defense mechanism, is not doing us any good. On the contrary.

We will start by clarifying some aspects:

Anhedonia is not a disease or disorder: It is a symptom of some emotional process or some type of illness.Although it is true that the vast majority of it is closely related to depression, it can also manifest itself as a result of schizophrenia or dementia such as Alzheimer’s. We have all, to a lesser extent, experienced anhedonia at some point: lack of interest in things. social relationships, for food, for communicating…The real problem comes when anhedonia builds a wall around us, and takes away all traces of humanity.: We don’t feel anything about expressions of affection, we don’t need anyone by our side and no stimulus gives us pleasure, not food, not music… nothing.

If we choose to stop feeling so as not to suffer, we will not be protecting ourselves from anything. We will be closing the doors to life, we will be souls that are unraveling little by little…

Anhedonia at the brain level

This low receptivity to external stimuli is clearly reflected in a depressed brain. It is important that we take into account what type of processes are triggered within us when we experience anhedonia:

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If this state becomes chronic and these depressive processes extend over time, our brain structures undergo changes, and these affect our judgments, thoughts and emotions.The frontal lobe, related to decision making, is reduced.The basal ganglia, related to movement, are affected to such an extent that even getting out of bed requires great effort.The hippocampus, related to emotions and memory, also loses volume. It is common for us to have memory failures, to suffer helplessness, to be obsessed with negative thoughts.

Depression is often known as the disease of sadness. But in reality, it is something that goes further, it is the prison of an emotional brain that does not find answers to the voids in life, to disappointment, to the loss of hope.

Strategies to cope with anhedonia and depression

Depression is not “cured”, it is not faced overnight. It requires multiple approaches, depending as always on each person’s reality. Drugs, therapies, family support and above all the resources that one can deploy are key elements.

However, for our part we invite you to reflect on these aspects:

Not feeling in order not to suffer is not an adequate mechanism with which to live. It will allow you to “survive” but being empty inside. Do not allow yourself to be an eternal captive of suffering.

If there is something positive that we can take from anhedonia, it is that you have left aside the ability to feel. TONow that you are “anesthetized” to pain, it is time to ask yourself what you NEED.

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¿You need peace and happiness to return to your life? Get excited about yourself again.¿You need to stop being a prisoner of the past? Make a shift forward.You need to stop suffering? Dare to live again, Open the doors of your heart, allow yourself to be happy again.

Think about these aspects for a few moments and always remember that To live is to FEEL in all its intensity. Whether on its positive or negative side.