Anxiety induced anhedonia?

I was diagnosed with MDD, GAD, OCD, and autism. A therapist suggested I also deal with CPTSD but I feel like I only have a few of the symptoms, mainly hypervigilance and a lot of guilt (my OCD adds a lot to that). I grew up in a household that had a lot of emotional, verbal, and religious abuse. Was constantly vigilant trying to avoid being bullied by my brothers and being constantly monitored and punished by my fundamentalist Christian dad where I had to be hyper aware that I wasn't "sinning."

I think that hypervigilance has carried into my adulthood and developed into the anxiety and OCD I have today. I can almost never relax for one reason or another. My downtime is plagued with chronic stress and guilt. Always wondering what I "should" be doing too. I'm only 21 but worry constantly that I'm never doing enough or what I should be doing. As a result my downtime is never restorative so I might as well be at my job 24/7. I am curious if I've been chronically burnt out from all this and it's causing anhedonic symptoms. I don't think it's the only cause but I think it contributes.

I lost my joy for drawing and video games and hanging out with friends etc and even trying new things doesn't help much. I get brief relief sometimes from intense exercise, yoga, and meditation I think as well as when I took benzos which I don't take anymore.

Curious about anyone's thoughts and maybe what I could do to treat this. I am currently on Nardil for depression and it is helping me with baseline mood and reducing despair but I still don't really enjoy anything. I'm also just starting pramipexole so I hope both these meds will be part of the equation but I think there's other things I could do to help in the meantime. Self-care, books, therapy, and med recommendations welcome. Thank you.

Posted Aug 13, 2024, 11:58 PM UTC

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