Posted by Tomatheus on July 13, 2012, at 14:56:49
In reply to What helps with social anhedonia., posted by DK79 on July 13, 2012, at 8:46:39
DK79,
I would say that, based on your description, I probably experience at least a moderate amount of what you call social anhedonia. When my anergic/vegetative depressive symptoms are at even a moderate level, I don't particularly enjoy talking to people. And since the onset of my cognitive impairment and psychosis, I enjoy talking to people even less because I have more difficulty understanding the meaning behind what they say, especially when they talk real quickly. I've always been described as being a quiet person, though, even before the onset of my anergic/vegetative symptoms (and the cognitive impairment and psychosis that came some seven years later). So, whether one would consider it to be pathological or not, socializing has never been one of my strong points.
So, to the extent that I experience social anhedonia, the treatments that have helped to reduce the intensity of that symptom more than anything else have been the MAOIs. Unfortunately, although I had great results on one version of Nardil for a month and decent results on another version of Nardil for two months, no MAOI response that I've had has lasted longer than that. I would also say that the SSRIs Paxil and Prozac produced some short-lived reductions in what you would call social anhedonia (along with reductions in what I would consider to be my core depressive symptoms) at times before the onset of my cognitive impairment and psychosis, but that the SSRIs that I've tried since the onset of my cognitive impairment and psychosis have only worsened my symptoms. I would also say that I liked the way that I felt on the first day of my last trial with picamilon, but that the most obvious benefits of that particular substance did not last for longer than a day for me. I also did try Stablon, and though I noticed a reduction in some of my symptoms when I first took the medication, the improvements that I noticed didn't last very long. I also wouldn't say that I enjoyed social interactions any more than usual on Stablon, even when I felt that I was benefiting some from the medication.
So basically, to the extent that I suffer from what you call social anhedonia, no treatment has really alleviated this symptom for me in the long run. On my current treatment -- which consists of Abilify, folic acid, coenzyme q10, Korean ginseng, DHA, liquid vitamin B12, liquid SAM-e, and counseling -- I find social interactions to be somewhat more tolerable than I did prior to utilizing this treatment regimen, but I still tend to prefer solitary activities over social activities. As far as my social activities are concerned, I think that the kind of response that I'm getting now is probably pretty close to the best that I can realistically hope for. I wouldn't say that I'd want to be socializing so much that I'd be socializing just for the sake of socializing anyway, so I think that getting me to the point where I can tolerate social interactions and engage in more social behavior than I've been used to would be a good goal.
Tomatheus
Dx: schizoaffective disorder
Taking Abilify and 6 supplements
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