Redefining goals towards eudaimonic wellness that fits in around my challenges has been a mission lately. After a long time on the hedonic treadmill and living from a dysphoric and anhedonic baseline, I've been trying to settle down into finding achievable, meaningful and purposeful eudiamonic activities to bring some slight contentment.
While I appreciate that hedonic behaviours increased positive emotions and life satisfaction and help regulate emotions, while also reducing negative emotions, stress, and depression, eudaimonic behaviour led to greater meaning in life and more experiences of elevation. It has been suggested a "pleasure, strong enough to be felt, might allow anhedonic and depressed persons to regain, for a certain time, previously lost normal pleasures, thus enabling them to temporarily lead a more enjoyable life". For example. Animal-Assisted Therapy ameliorates anhedonia
Deficits in reward-related processing may present as loss of interest or pleasure and may impede an individual’s ability to engage in goal-directed behaviour. Individuals who experience chronic lower mood (lower hedonic tone) attempt to reach euthymia through internal or external activation. Those with a lower set point, or lower hedonic tone, will need to do more to feel neutral or euthymic, resulting in an increased need for stimulation. In part, this may manifest as seeking external stimulation (eg, dangerous or risky behaviour and substance abuse) or internal stimulation (eg, fantasy) that will raise their hedonic tone [1]
One way to combat a return to your happiness set point, which often in mental illness is dismal or anhedonic, is to engage in more eudaimonic activities [2]. Psychological well-being is measured with six constructs related to self-actualisation: autonomy, personal growth, purpose in life, self-acceptance, mastery, and positive connections to others. It has been suggested to focus on the positive to counter anhedonia
Anhedonia is a difficult-to-treat target. Subjective quality of life is reduced by lack of initiation and persistence of goal-directed activities and a reduction of demotivating beliefs has been reported to alleviate negative symptoms and to enhance psychosocial functioning [3]
Chronic social stress causes behavioural changes that are relevant to depression. Stress-induced loss of reward sensitivity intensifies followed by motivational anhedonia, the failure to translate positive reinforcements into future actions [4] As covered earlier adverse interpersonal experiences, such as social exclusion, lead to a collapse in drive and affiliation (i.e. amotivation) - experiences of social exclusion, but also other social adversities have been demonstrated to be associated with psychotic disorders
The valuation or desirability of a certain goal constitutes one of two key factors that determine whether or not goal-directed behavior is initiated and demotivating beliefs could be activated by specific context cues related to past negative experiences and hamper the formation of goal-intentions
Data suggest that exercise and recreational activities may have broader health benefits than antidepressants [5] but often demotivating beliefs prevents patients with negative symptoms from looking forward to activities
Generally people anticipate future positive emotions by relying on a set of general beliefs about themselves and the respective situation and demotivating beliefs hamper anticipatory pleasure and thereby interfere with the initiation of goal-directed behaviour. Anticipatory pleasure fosters the translation of goal intentions into goal-directed activity but there are substantial associations of these demotivating beliefs with low psychosocial functioning
One can be encouraged to seek personally meaningful social goals, challenge maladaptive beliefs related to these goals and be supported in increasing goal related anticipatory pleasure.
I've been enjoying opportunities to do gardening for supportive souls and neighbours, learn some social skills etc. Still keeping up the free plants box which has been popular, looking forward to spring for being able to germinate more and Trees for Life Kindness for Happiness
Quite a few Random Acts of Kindness into the chart, even ended up at church today, but already agreeing "being kind to others, being kind to yourself, and actively observing the kindness happening around us, can all boost subjective happiness" [6].
"Performing kindness activities for seven days increases happiness. Additionally, the more kindness activities that one does, the greater the increase in happiness."
It appears kindness to strong ties, to weak ties, and to self, as well as observing acts of kindness, have equally positive effects on happiness and the number of kind acts was a significant predictor of change in happiness
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