# When Joy Goes Missing: Understanding Anhedonia in Bipolar Disorder

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-bipolar-5196915/when-joy-goes-missing-understanding-anhedonia-in-bipolar-disorder
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-bipolar-5196915/when-joy-goes-missing-understanding-anhedonia-in-bipolar-disorder.md
Podcast: [Inside Bipolar](https://stenobird.com/podcast/inside-bipolar-5196915)
Published: 2026-05-04T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://psychcentral.com/blog/podcast-when-joy-goes-missing-understanding-anhedonia-in-bipolar-disorder/
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/RVOHE2400790378.mp3?updated=1777304097
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/inside-bipolar-5196915/episodes/when-joy-goes-missing-understanding-anhedonia-in-bipolar-disorder
Duration seconds: 2269

## Resource

Are you no longer experiencing pleasure or joy in day-to-day life? If you are living with bipolar disorder, you know the crushing weight of the “nothingness” — that specific, hollow moment where the things that used to define happiness suddenly feel like chores. This may not be a bad mood or a lack of discipline; it could be a clinical symptom known as anhedonia.In this episode, Gabe Howard (who lives with bipolar disorder) and Dr. Nicole Washington (a board certified psychiatrist) peel back the layers of this often-misunderstood symptom. Together, they share that losing your spark isn't a character flaw, but a biological hurdle that you can overcome. Listener takeaways: Learn exactly what anhedonia is — and is not. Learn how anhedonia can appear in dysphoric or agitated mania. Learn to distinguish between clinical loss of joy and simply “outgrowing” things. Learn how to define — and understand — “normal.” If you’ve ever felt like a “bad” or “lazy” person because you couldn't find the joy in life, this episode is the reality check you need. Learn why “gray is OK” and how to start the climb back to contentment. Listen now! "A lot of people don't recognize that boredom and contentment and blah is not depression. It's not anhedonia. It's not joy or happiness, but it is stability." ~Gabe Howard, Host Our host, Gabe Howard, is an award-winning podcast host, author, and sought-after suicide prevention and mental health speaker, but he wouldn’t be any of those things today if he hadn’t been committed to a psychiatric hospital in 2003.Gabe also hosts Healthline's Inside Mental Health podcast has appeared in numerous publications, including Bipolar magazine, WebMD, Newsweek, and the Stanford Online Medical Journal. He has appeared on all four major TV networks, ABC, NBC, CBS, a…

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## Transcript

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