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Social Anhedonia
Social Anhedonia refers to a personality trait that is characterised by a low desire of social connection and experiencing reduced pleasure derived from interpersonal interactions. The term ‘Anhedonia’ was first coined by psychoanalytic psychologist, Ribot, though the majority of clinicians often associate the term with writings from Rado and Meehl. The term ‘Anhedonia’ is translated as ‘without pleasure’, by which Social Anhedonia is one of the two main types of Anhedonia. Social Anhedonia is known to negatively affect an individual’s relationship, even those related to their friends and family, as the individual seems to lack the feeling of enjoyment when socialising in a public setting. It is also often associated with depression, substance abuse, and schizophrenia: a mental illness that affects an individual’s thoughts and behaviours as well as their ability to function in their everyday lives. There are several known causes of social anhedonia, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and can possibly affect people with health problems such as Parkinson, coronary artery disease and issues with substance abuse. Social anhedonia does not only affect adults, but also children and adolescents, especially the ones who suffer from depression. Symptoms of social anhedonia for both adults and the youths include social withdrawal, pessimistic feelings towards the individual themselves, as well as the people around them, struggling to adjust to social situations, and many more.

Difference Between Social Anhedonia and Physical Anhedonia
Early studies regarding anhedonia in schizophrenia have distinguished physical anhedonia and social anhedonia, where physical anhedonia is characterized as a lack of pleasure regarding physical activities, such as tasting or smelling foods. It was also found that social anhedonia is often associated with negative symptoms compared to physical anhedonia, as negative symptoms are closely related to reduced social connections, and individuals with social anhedonia have a stronger preference of being alone or isolated from everyone else. Physical anhedonia is also strongly correlated with a range of quality of life and functioning outcomes, such as social relationships and physical health, compared to social anhedonia. Differentiating social anhedonia from physical anhedonia has helped researches differentiate individuals with the inability to experience pleasure in relation to sensual experiences from those who fail to enjoy social interactions.

Depression
Social Anhedonia is most closely related to major depression, due to both of its strong similarities in terms of reduced pleasure. Numerous studies have shown that difficulties in regulating one’s emotions and social anhedonia are independently associated with depression. Scientists also believe that anhedonia may be affected by the human brain’s activity, as some individuals may have a problem with producing and responding to dopamine, a chemical that controls an individual’s mood and emotions, and is in charge of making them ‘feel good’. Failure to produce or respond to such chemicals often result in a failure to experience pleasure, thus ultimately affecting an individual’s socialising abilities.

However, although major depression and social anhedonia is very closely related, not all individuals with major depression experience anhedonia, as only 70% of the individuals with major depressive disorder actually experience anhedonia. Depressed individuals with anhedonia are more likely to experience social withdrawal as well as a loss of appetite compared to depressed individuals without anhedonia, primarily in certain areas such as social interaction.

Schizophrenia
As mentioned previously, Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects an individual’s thoughts and behaviours as well as their ability to function in their everyday lives. Anhedonia is known to be a core feature in Schizophrenia, and is distinguished as a reduction in pleasure in activities such as socialising. Studies have shown that even though not all schizophrenia-effected individuals or patients experience anhedonia, there is an estimate of about 80% of schizophrenia patients have experienced at least a moderate amount of anhedonia.

Anhedonia in the Youths
The reduced ability to experience pleasure that causes the feeling of detachment from society among the youths could increase the chances of suicide, thus making it a major obstacle for well-being and is of clinical importance. Depression and social anhedonia among the youths also often goes unrecognized, as roughly 20% of teenagers experience a loss of interest in activities that they used to enjoy. It is suggested that there are 2 underlying mechanisms of anhedonia in adolescents, with the first one being the feeling of detachment from society, where a sense of belonging is a factor that prevents individuals to commit suicide, especially during the years of adolescents. The second and last possible mechanism is related to decision making, where it was discovered that poor decision making is one of the causes of suicidal behaviour. From a neurocognitive perspective, decision making is associated with the activation of the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex, for which individuals with a damaged ventromedial prefrontal cortex often make impaired decisions and exhibit deficits in decision making.

Treatment Approaches
Not many researches have been done that has led to the creation of a permanent treatment for social anhedonia. However, people have devised a few treatment approaches that may be useful for both adults and the youth population. One of the proposed treatment approach described by Bewrnick is by using Deep Brain Stimulation, which is a neurosurgical procedure that allows the modulation of certain dysfunctional regions of the brain during depression. Another treatment approach that was suggested by Shelton and Tomarken is a relatively more therapeutic approach that was partly derived from research suggesting that the symptoms of disorders dealing with mood can be separated into three parts: Somatic Anxiety, Anhedonia and General Distress. Serotonergic agents will also be elected for monotherapy or augmentation for distress symptoms, and that cat-echolaminergic drugs will be used to treat anhedonia and its reduced motivation.