A new study conducted by a team of American researchers indicates that targeting the lost sense of pleasure contributes to alleviating severe depression and anxiety more effectively than current traditional treatment techniques.
The researchers concluded that directly enhancing positive emotions is an innovative therapeutic approach that has proven effective in reducing major risk factors associated with depression and anxiety, including suicidal tendencies and relapse.
Event Details
According to the results published in the journal "JAMA Open Network," this research culminates over a decade of clinical trials addressing Positive Affect Treatment (PAT), a psychological treatment program consisting of 15 sessions designed to rebuild patients' ability to feel joy, purpose, motivation, and reward.
The research team, led by psychologists Alicia E. Muirit, Thomas Ritz from Southern Methodist University in Texas, and Michelle G. Krask from the University of California, Los Angeles, noted that most people define depression as a disorder that causes sadness. However, what actually hinders millions of patients is something entirely different: a diminished ability to experience positive emotions or a complete absence of them.
Background & Context
Muirit, head of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at Southern Methodist University, explains: "There is a difference between feeling helpless and feeling hopeless; when one feels helpless, they still have the drive and will to change things, whereas when one feels hopeless, they lose hope for any change. This is the essence of lost pleasure, and merely removing negative emotions does not solve the problem."
The loss of the sense of pleasure—known as anhedonia—affects about 90% of individuals with severe depression. This symptom indicates a longer and more severe course of the illness, hinders recovery, and is a strong indicator of suicidal behavior. Its occurrence is not limited to depression; it also extends to anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and schizophrenia. Nevertheless, most traditional treatments do not directly target it.
Impact & Consequences
For decades, psychological treatments have focused almost entirely on reducing negative emotions, leaving anhedonia largely unaddressed. According to the researchers, patients themselves see the restoration of positive emotions as their primary goal; sometimes, this even takes precedence over reducing negative symptoms.
Thus, Positive Affect Treatment (PAT) was developed to directly target the brain's reward system, which is responsible for how individuals anticipate, experience, and learn from positive events. According to the study's findings, this treatment retrains what the researchers call the "positive system" in the brain through exercises that re-engage patients in rewarding activities, direct their attention to positive experiences, and cultivate practices such as gratitude, enjoyment, and kindness.
Regional Significance
Unlike traditional treatments that directly address negative emotions, Positive Affect Treatment (PAT) focuses on enhancing positive emotions, which explains its remarkable results; patients showed improvement in both positive and negative emotional measures, even though the treatment did not directly target negativity. They also recorded a significant decrease in symptoms of depression and anxiety.
In this context, Muirit commented, "It is not enough to remove the negatives; therapists should ask patients: Does this activity have meaning for you? Will it bring you happiness or a sense of accomplishment? Does it enhance your connection with others?"