Anhedonia in Depressive Disorder and Schizophrenia: An Overview of Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment

28 December 2025 : Review article

Maciej Ludwik Pelc

^{BDEF 1*}, Agnieszka Barbara Białek

^{BDEF 1}, Oliwia Anastazja Stasiewicz

^{BDEF 1}, Nikola Oliwia Sobecka

^{BDEF 1}, Ewelina Soroka

^{ADEG 1}

DOI: 10.12659/MSM.950368

Med Sci Monit 2025; 31:e950368

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Introduction: Defining Anhedonia in Depression and Schizophrenia Anhedonia vs Fatigue and Symptom Differentiation Multidimensional Nature of Anhedonia Reward and Punishment Processing in Anhedonia Criteria for Differentiation and Diagnosis of Anhedonia Neurobiological and Inflammatory Mechanisms Questionnaires Used in Research on Anhedonia Anhedonia in Schizophrenia: A Negative Symptom Perspective Treatment of Anhedonia Antidepressants Antipsychotic Drugs Glutamatergic Drugs Kappa Opioid Receptor Antagonist Drugs KCNQ Channel Activators Neurostimulation Psychotherapy Future Development Directions Conclusions References

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Table 1 Differences between anhedonia and fatigue [5].

Criterion	Anhedonia	Fatigue
	Loss of the ability to feel pleasure or interest	Loss of energy or lack of energy
	Usually classified as effective	Generally somatic
	Depression; schizophrenia	Depression: chronic fatigue syndrome, post-cancer fatigue
	Dysfunction of the dopaminergic system	Various causes
	Lack of satisfaction from doing anything; lack of pleasure	Having difficulty archieving motor tasks; having difficulty achieving cognitive tasks
	Snaith-Hamilton Pleasure Scale (SHAPS); Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS)	Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS); Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI)

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