Rediscovering Joy: The Hidden Face of Anhedonia

Lætitia
Apr 17
3 min read

Updated: Jun 20

In a world that often equates happiness with productivity and visible excitement, many atypical people quietly battle with a lesser-known emotional struggle: anhedonia. If you've ever felt a lingering emotional flatness, a disconnection from joy, or the inability to enjoy the things you used to love — you're not alone.

This post explores how anhedonia uniquely affects autistic, ADHD, HSP/empathic, gifted, and otherwise neuroatypical people — and how awareness and adapted strategies can help light the way back to meaning and pleasure.

What Is Anhedonia?

Anhedonia is the reduced ability to feel pleasure, interest, or satisfaction from activities once enjoyed. It’s a core symptom of major depression but is also frequently observed outside clinical depression, especially in neurodivergent populations.

Anhedonia can manifest as:

Social anhedonia: Withdrawal from people and interactions
Physical anhedonia: Diminished enjoyment in physical sensations (food, touch, music)
Emotional numbness: General flatness, lack of motivation or drive
Creative blocks: Disconnection from inspiration, passion, and creative energy

Far from being just "a phase," anhedonia can deeply impact identity, relationships, and purpose — particularly when combined with the unique emotional wiring of neurodivergence.

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Neurodivergence & Anhedonia: Key Correlations

Each atypical profile comes with unique patterns of sensitivity, energy, and emotional processing — which, under prolonged stress, can give rise to anhedonia. Here's how:

1. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Sensory Dysregulation: Some Autistic people may live in a state of sensory overload or under-responsivity. Pleasant sensations may feel overwhelming or dull, making joy elusive.
Alexithymia: Difficulty identifying and expressing feelings can mask joy or disconnect individuals from recognizing pleasurable experiences.
Social Exhaustion: The effort to “mask” or fit in socially often results in autistic burnout, leaving no space for emotional engagement or creativity.

Example: Someone may abandon a favorite hobby not out of disinterest, but because the sensory or emotional demands become too exhausting to navigate.

2. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Dopamine Dysregulation: ADHD involves irregularities in how the brain handles dopamine — the neurotransmitter of motivation and reward.
Hyperfocus vs. Reward Drop-Off: Intense engagement can flip into sudden boredom or emotional flatness, especially once novelty fades.
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD): Fear of failure or rejection can lead to avoidance of even once-loved activities.

Example: A person might begin several exciting projects but feel nothing after a short time, leaving them discouraged and disconnected.

3. Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) / Empaths

Emotional Overload: Constant emotional input from others can overwhelm the nervous system, making it hard to stay connected to personal sources of joy.
Absorbing External Emotions: High empathy sometimes leads to emotional burnout, leaving us drained and apathetic toward their own needs.

Example: A sensitive person may retreat from social spaces not because of disinterest but because their emotional system is overloaded and numb.

4. Gifted people

Existential Depression: Giftedness is often accompanied by a tendency to question meaning, fairness, and the depth of existence. This can create a disconnect from ordinary pleasures.
Perfectionism & High Standards: When nothing feels “good enough,” activities lose their spark.
Overexcitabilities (OEs): Intense emotional experiences may lead to overstimulation and burnout, overshadowing joy.

Example: A gifted teen may excel in school but find no real pleasure in their achievements, questioning their value or significance.

5. Other Co-Occurring Conditions

CPTSD or Trauma: Trauma rewires the brain's reward system, often making it feel unsafe to experience pleasure. Survivors may unconsciously suppress joy to remain “in control.”
Depression & Anxiety: These frequently co-occur with neurodivergence, dulling emotional resonance and reinforcing cycles of withdrawal.

Why This Correlation Matters

Recognizing the unique ways anhedonia manifests in some atypical people is vital for healing, both individually and collectively. It allows us to:

Avoid misdiagnoses, such as mistaking emotional numbness for laziness or social apathy
Tailor therapy approaches to suit sensory needs, emotional rhythms, and cognitive styles
Restore hope and self-trust in people who’ve long believed they’re broken for not “feeling joy like others do”

🛠 Strategies to Reclaim Joy (Coming Soon)

In a few follow-up posts, we’ll explore:

Somatic and body-based tools to reawaken emotional responses
Gentle dopamine rituals for ADHDers and autistic folks
Permission-based self-care for perfectionists and empaths
Mini-pleasure tracking and neuro-emotional safety rebuilding
Joyful rituals adapted to each neurotype
and more...

🤍 Final Thoughts

If you’ve been silently grieving your lost spark, know this: your capacity for joy isn’t broken — it’s waiting.

Waiting for space, compassion, and safety. Waiting to be approached on your terms, in your timing, with your unique sensitivity honored.

And as we make space for neurodivergent joy to return, it might not roar back — it may come as a whisper, a tiny breath of color in a gray moment. But it counts. And it grows.