Anhedonia!

Thank you for sharing Ian. I’m sorry you are feeling like this and don’t know enough about medication and therapies to help you but I do understand the lack of meaning in a faith you used to have. I’m trying to hold on to mine so when I go to church tomorrow I will be thinking of you.

EllieAnne: Thank you, for those kind words. Enjoy church!

Do you have any friends Ian, it’s amazing how helpful it can be to just go for a short walk, listen to the birds, listen to any noises that tell you you are alive. Do you like making things we have MENS sheds and ‘mending things’ groups that help others I find helping other people gives me a feel good factor that I need.
Set yourself some goals, say to yourself today I m going to walk to the nearest lamppost and back, tomorrow I’ll go to the second one and so on
I ll tell you a funny story my friend was having help with severe agoraphobia. Her mental health worker was getting her to walk a little further each day and they got as far as going on the underground, just one stop to start with she was doing well and then one day the train briefly got stuck underground, and the health worker had a panic attack and my friend had to get her home.
The fact that you’re talking to us and taking stuff on board is a really good start and you are ‘feeling’ things because you’ve expressed your gratitude.
Keep chatting we re all here for you

I have this conditions and take Mirtazepine and Venlafaxine.

You really are in a difficult situation health wise. I often feel as if I'm dead but still going through the motions of living.

I tailor my life around my condition and don't beat myself up about staying in bed all day, eating too much or being unsociable. I just wanted to say 'I hear you' and hope you get some kind of spontaneous remission. Where there's life there's hope.

BlueBelle: "Do you have any friends Ian, it’s amazing how helpful it can be to just go for a short walk, listen to the birds, listen to any noises that tell you you are alive."

I have no friends, I'm afraid. However, when the real Summer gets here, I'm going to start forcing myself out of that door and see if the fresh air, change of scene and exercise help against this accursed condition. Time will tell.

"Do you like making things we have MENS sheds and ‘mending things’ groups that help others I find helping other people gives me a feel good factor that I need."

That would involve regular outdoors trips and, at least for now, I really don't feel that I would be up to it. I like the idea that I will, one day (hopefully), be able to join in with group work of that nature, though.

"Set yourself some goals, say to yourself today I m going to walk to the nearest lamppost and back, tomorrow I’ll go to the second one and so on."

I'm a firm believer in such methods. Well, I was a firm believer in such methods when I was recommending them to others. Now, that I'm the patient, I've donned my professional coward's costume and it's a perfect fit. But, I intend to get out of that front door during Summer, if it ever decides to arrive.

"I'll tell you a funny story my friend was having help with severe agoraphobia. Her mental health worker was getting her to walk a little further each day and they got as far as going on the underground, just one stop to start with she was doing well and then one day the train briefly got stuck underground, and the health worker had a panic attack and my friend had to get her home."

I love it! It kinda proves that our mental health workers are humans, after all - it's no longer just a suspicion!

"The fact that you’re talking to us and taking stuff on board is a really good start and you are ‘feeling’ things because you’ve expressed your gratitude."

There are still some feelings inside me. Anger, sadness and gratitude, yes.

"Keep chatting we're all here for you."

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BarmCake: "I have this condition and take Mirtazepine and Venlafaxine."

I'm sorry that anybody should have to suffer from this - I really am.

"You really are in a difficult situation health wise. I often feel as if I'm dead but still going through the motions of living."

It is, in fact, the worst mental health predicament that I have ever found myself in. I've had mental health troubles, now, for over 55 years...it started in High School, in fact. There have been bad times before, but I was always able to apply pastimes/hobbies or other pleasures in the fight against it. For this case, I can't rely on that. Every former hobby/pastime/interest/reward/pleasure is now utterly out of reach for me. I can look at DVD movie cases and feel nothing, whereas I'd previously said to myself, "I'll put a film on - at least, it will distract me." I can't do that, now. Read a book? They mean nothing to me. I see the print. I see the words. They mean nothing other than what they say. By the end of the first paragraph, I've no idea what that paragraph just told me. (I read only non-fiction.) There are packs of cigarettes in this house and some lighters...they mean nothing at all to me. (That's no great loss, I'm glad to say.)

So, all my healthier former interests must be repeatedly "sampled"...just a little...then put aside. That's the general basis of "Behavioural Activation" therapy - the best CBT that can be used against Anhedonia (I call it "AnnieConda" because it chokes the life out of the sufferer's life). So, that's the one I'm going to turn into a programme of "sampling" my former interests. It sure makes more sense than just doing nothing but moaning that I'm cut off from all of them.

"I tailor my life around my condition and don't beat myself up about staying in bed all day, eating too much or being unsociable. I just wanted to say 'I hear you' and hope you get some kind of spontaneous remission. Where there's life there's hope."

The struggle goes on. Thank you, for your reply.

Every reply has been most kind, and they are appreciated!

www.drscotteilers.com/

This person seems to talk sense and has lived experience.

I am not promoting him or connected to him.

SixAndAHalf: Thank you, for your reply/link. I'll go and take a look, now.

Hello , I personally think all of us suffer from this to a degree , my solution is swimming ! But of course our friends die or are ill , there are funerals to go to , the news on TV but we mustn’t forget to be grateful to be here but yes it’s very hard at times , hope you feel better soon x

IanMcKlatchie

*SixAndAHalf*: Thank you, for your reply/link. I'll go and take a look, now.

It might look like he is trying to sell his book but there are lots of You Tube videos which are free, seem to make sense and possible lessen the feeling of isolation.

I had never heard of anhadonia but through you I've learned just what an awful, literally devastating condition it is.

Both Age UK and The Silver Line have a service where they match you up with a volunteer for regular weekly or monthly phone calls. This is just for a chat but it could develop into a 'phone friendship.'

There's also an organisation which pairs up an older person to hear a child read over the phone. No areas or surnames are shared and it's a weekly arrangement during term times.
This is arranged by Silver Stories and it connects different generations.

Just a couple of suggestions which may help you. It will connect you to others without the need for you to leave your home.

Okay. Thanks, for that.