Anhedonia medical therapy
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] ; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Pratik Bahekar, MBBS [2]
Overview
Anhedonia is an important symptom in many psychiatric illness. Currently there is no available specific treatment for it. More studies need to be done to explore this territory.
Treatment
There is no validated treatment for social anhedonia.[1] Future research should focus on genetic and environmental risk factors to home in on specific brain regions and neurotransmitters that may be implicated in social anhedonia etiology and could be targeted with specialized pharmacological or behavioral treatments. Social support may also play a valuable role in the treatment of social anhedonia Blanchard et al. (2011) [2] found that a greater number of social supports as well as a greater perceived social support network were related to fewer schizophrenia-spectrum symptoms and to better general functioning within the social anhedonia group. Therefore, future studies should also examine ways to increase social support among individuals with social anhedonia in order to alleviate some of the symptoms.
References
- ↑ Horan, W. P., Kring, A. M., & Blanchard, J. J. (2006). Anhedonia in schizophrenia: a review of assessment strategies. Schizophrenia bulletin, 32(2), 259–273
- ↑ Blanchard, J.J., Collins, L.M., Aghevli, M., Leung, W.W. & Cohen, A.S. (2011). Social anhedonia and schizotypy in a community sample: the Maryland longitudinal study of schizotypy. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 37, 587-602