A recent study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that addressing a person’s ability to feel pleasure could be a promising way to manage depression. The research focuses on a condition known as anhedonia, which is a reduced capacity to experience interest and pleasure in response to typically rewarding stimuli.
Anhedonia affects a majority of people with major depression. The study notes that it is linked with more severe depression and worse recovery. Most depression treatments involve trying to reduce negative feelings, but this research looked at whether increasing positive emotions could help.
Researchers used a method called Positive Affect Treatment (PAT). This is a type of therapy designed to boost a person’s capacity for joy, purpose, motivation, and reward. The study involved 98 adults who had anhedonia, depression, and anxiety. Participants went through a randomized controlled trial using PAT.
The findings showed that PAT resulted in greater improvements compared to conventional therapy that targets negative emotions. The benefits were still present at a one-month follow-up. Patients who received PAT not only experienced more positive emotions but also showed reductions in depression and anxiety symptoms. This happened even though PAT does not directly address negative feelings.
Study co-author Alicia Meuret, Ph.D., stated in a news release that “it’s not enough to take away the bad.” She added that treatment needs to ask if an activity is meaningful to a person, if it will give them joy or a sense of accomplishment, and if it fosters connection.
The research points to the importance of rebuilding the capacity to experience joy and pleasure, an aspect of treating depression that has largely been ignored. Meuret explained that there is a difference between feeling helpless and feeling hopeless. When people feel hopeless, they do not believe anything will change. She said that anhedonia can look like that, and taking away negative emotions does not fix it.
According to the study authors, PAT helps patients work directly with the brain’s reward system. It retrains what they call the brain’s “positive system.” Many of the exercises in PAT help patients re-engage with rewarding activities, gratitude, and loving-kindness. The study suggests that for people suffering from anhedonia, depression, and anxiety, reducing negative emotions alone is not always enough. Reconnecting with joy through Positive Affect Treatment may be a method worth trying.
