Does anyone else suffer residual symptoms that the medics tell you that you just have to live with it
Yes, I’ve had residual negative symptoms for the past 3+ years. Been told they are incurable and lifelong. Where doctors have given up, I haven’t. I am trying CBT, so far with good-ish results.
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Your doctor told you that they are lifelong and incurable?? @Andrey
I would expect my psychiatrist to do the same and admit it…but instead of that now she started me on effexor for the past 4 weeks without improvement in an attempt to improve my “mood/anhedonia” and “obsession” with doing research to find hope for medication that would at least give me a little relief… I told her that anhedonia has nothing to do with "“mood”…but she ignored my comment. Of course experiencing no pleasure/motivation/desires/sense of accomplisment and the fact that psychiatry has no answer to give to anhedonics except for “do exercise and find a passion” puts me in a bad mood very often but I’m not in a perpetually “depressed” mood at all
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@Szsurvivor The situation is bad but you have to move forward, the only possible improvement can come only from yourself. 
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Well, they have tried antidepressants too, including effexor who supposedly at high doses increases dopamine in the prefrontal cortex (??) When nothing worked, they admitted to me that I’m hopeless… yeah, I admire them for being honest at least.
But when I e-mailed the American doctor emeritus Robert W. Buchanan, he suggested CBT. I cannot thank him enough for this advice.
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Do you have a concrete easy-to-apply advice in terms of CBT for people with anhedonia? I really can’t think of one that would alleviate my suffering 
@Andrey
@zeno Unfortunately there is no such thing as “moving forward” when we are talking about not feeling pleasure or desire to do stuff. I tried doing stuff, been trying for almost 2 years now, and NOTHING brings me any sense of joy or even the mildest sense of satisfaction. Depressed people may struggle with feelings of sadness or guilt and I can see how talking about it and trying to change one’s perception could help via psychotherapy. And at the end of the day those people can still feel pleasure in the comfort of their home and enjoy doing basic things like listening to music (although anhedonia is also a symptom that depressed people can suffer from, but like with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, very little attention is given to it since it’s not as common as the other symptoms)
By “moving forward” I mean stop ruminating about this situation and stop researching for a cure that (at the moment) doesn’t exist.
Because with these behaviours you are adding unnecessary bad feelings to your anhedonia.
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Anhedonia is a really tough nut to crack. I use some unorthodox approaches, such as:
- I repeat some positive mantras like “I will feel more pleasure” several times a day.
- I listen to powerful music and sing along (including lyrics… just as if it was a karaoke).
- I look at pictures of beautiful women, including erotic photos, but without masturbating.
- I also take pleasure from interacting with people on this forum: giving advice, supporting, encouraging.
That’s all I can think of right now. My anhedonia has improved by maybe 10% over the course of 2 months. The road is long…
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Congrates andrey i can feel u are really improving.
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Thank you Andrey
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