PMID: 11609003Dec 1, 1995Paper

The anhedonias: a conceptual history

History of Psychiatry
G E Berrios, J M Olivares

Abstract

The term and concept of 'anhedonia' refer to a group of clinical phenomena whose common denominator is the complaint of a putative incapacity to 'experience pleasure". Linked to disorders such as schizophrenia and depression, anhedonia remains difficult to define and measure. This paper explores the historical frames in which anhedonia was originally constructed; and is fully based on primary sources. It makes use of the 'conceptual method', i.e. it differentiates the history of the word from that of the behaviours and concepts involved. Historical analysis shows that the boundaries of 'anhedonia' have been fuzzy since the time of Ribot, and that this has made it conceptually unstable. One reason for this instability pertains to the fact that from the start its definition has been parasitical upon the (itself evolving) concept of 'pleasure'. Another that it is defined negatively, i.e. as a reduction or abolition in a putative unitary function. Yet another, that there is little evidence that anhedonia itself is a unitary phenomenon. It is concluded that at this stage it might be advisable to refer to the concept in the plural (the anhedonias); that a definition should be formulated that it is less dependent upon the ongoing conc...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 23, 2008·Schizophrenia Bulletin·Jouko Miettunen, Erika Jääskeläinen
Jul 3, 2008·European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience·David HealyJoanna Le Noury
Sep 13, 2012·Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience·Gonçalo PadrãoAntoni Rodriguez-Fornells
May 14, 2008·Current Psychiatry Reports·Ayman H Fanous, Kenneth S Kendler
Mar 31, 1999·Journal of Psychosomatic Research·P TyrerH Seivewright
Apr 1, 2011·The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease·Jouko MiettunenDirk Lichtermann
Jan 1, 1998·International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice·J M Olivares, G E Berrios
May 28, 2013·Archives of Psychiatric Nursing·Nancy Ho, Marilyn Sommers
May 28, 2015·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Jack D Barchas, Benjamin D Brody
Feb 12, 2011·Movement Disorders : Official Journal of the Movement Disorder Society·Christopher D Ward
Sep 1, 2011·History of Psychiatry·Volker Hess, Benoît Majerus
Dec 31, 2002·History of Psychiatry·Ivan Leudar, Wes Sharrock
Jun 1, 1997·History of Psychiatry·G E Berrios, M Sierra
Aug 10, 2020·Translational Psychiatry·Ruel R BillonesLeorey N Saligan
Feb 12, 2020·Clinical Psychological Science : a Journal of the Association for Psychological Science·Brian D KilukMehmet Sofuoglu
Jul 16, 2020·Psychopathology·Jürgen De FruytKoen Demyttenaere

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