Dealing with Anhedonia

Anhedonia

The hardest part of studying or working on an assignment is actually starting. However, when dealing with anhedonia, it feels almost improbable that I’ll be able to get even the simplest of assignments done. While exams tend to make me nervous, I have always enjoyed studying for them. Though classes like my Basic Sign Language and Spanish courses keep me engaged with studying, aside from that, it has felt like I have been on autopilot pretty much this whole semester. As someone who enjoys school and being busy, anhedonia has made it hard to get through the last few weeks of the semester. So, of course, with just about three weeks of the semester left, I have come up with a few things that have helped me push through!

Music

We’re all different. For some people, listening to sad music when they are upset helps them process their emotions; for others, like me, this only makes it worse. There are times when I find comfort in songs that match how I am feeling; however, most times, it does the complete opposite and makes me feel worse. Because music influences one’s mood, I decided to switch playlists with one of my friends for a week to change up music genres a little bit. 

There were two main playlists I listened to, which both had a mix of K-pop, pop, and Latin pop music (nothing too different from my own taste in music, aside from K-pop, which is a genre that I only just started listening to regularly again). I will not lie, I mainly listened to the K-pop tracks on the playlists due to the nostalgia it gave me, with songs like  “MAGO” (GFRIEND), “SO BAD” (STAYC) and practically every TWICE song reminding me of the diehard K-pop fan I used to be, especially during the 2020 pandemic when I used to learn choreographies to deal with the lockdown. Learning choreographies not only kept me entertained but also kept me active. The whole playlist felt like going back to 2020, with the occasional stops to reality with Taylor Swift’s Evermore and Folklore tracks playing from time to time. 

2020 K-pop, at least for me, will forever be memorable. As a former major BTS fan, their album releases, with the exception of Dynamite, were gold. 

Romanticize – Dressing up

I have mentioned this before, but romanticizing is honestly how I get through stressful times, and as of late, simply doing the minimum, like wearing a nice or well-coordinated outfit, helps. I have never really done my makeup to go to classes, mainly because I just don’t give myself the time by waking up earlier, but occasionally it’s fun to get dressed up and do my makeup. Though I’ve had the same routine since high school, I had forgotten how fun it is to play music and do my makeup. 

It honestly doesn’t even have to be a nice outfit. Just throwing on a basic outfit, like athletic shorts and a t-shirt, putting my hair up, and curling my lashes has helped me feel better, more put together, and separated from my mood. 

Sleep

This has been a little hard to come by due to the stress of finals and projects starting to come up; however, for the most part, I’ve been prioritizing sleep this semester. As hard as it is, I’ve been trying to put everything away if I’m not done by 11 PM, and this has helped me maintain a healthier sleep routine. There were only about three times that I didn’t get the best sleep, but aside from that, my sleep schedule has improved. 

• college
• finals
• health
• mental health
• music
• sleep
• studying