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Social Anhedonia: When Other People Stop Feeling Rewarding

Group of men
Aug. 4 2026,
Depression
8 min read
Dr Hannah Nearney
Consultant Psychiatrist (MBChB, MRCPsych, MSc, PGDip(CAT), NHS Innovation Accelerator Fellow)
TL;DR
  • Social anhedonia is a reduced ability to feel interest, pleasure or reward from being with other people. It is a lack or loss of enjoyment, and it does not mean you are cold or antisocial.
  • It differs from social anxiety and introversion. In social anxiety, fear overrides the wish to connect; introverts still enjoy their chosen company. In social anhedonia the enjoyment itself is dimmed.
  • It is closely linked to depression. It affects around a third of people with depression, usually lifts with recovery, and often sits alongside loneliness because the need for connection remains.
  • Anhedonia points to depression rather than ADHD itself, though the two often co-occur. If loss of interest lasts most days for more than two weeks, see your GP.

Introduction

The messages sit unread because replying feels like effort you do not have. An invitation lands as a chore, one more thing to get through. You may still love the people in your life, but their company drains rather than fills you, and what you mostly feel afterwards is relief.

If you recognise yourself in this description, it does not mean you are cold or antisocial. You may be experiencing something which has a name; social anhedonia is a reduced ability to feel interest in, pleasure or reward from being with other people (Barkus and Badcock, 2019). It is a recognised symptom with several potential causes, and for many people it improves with treatment.

men running

What Is Social Anhedonia?

Anhedonia means an absence of or reduced ability to feel pleasure or interest in things that would normally be enjoyable. It is one of the core symptoms of depression although it can have other underlying causes.

Social anhedonia is that same lack or dimming of reward in one specific area of life: other people. It is a reduced positive response to social connection, a loss of the enjoyment that company used to bring, rather than a fear of it (Barkus and Badcock, 2019; Cleveland Clinic).

Social anhedonia versus social anxiety

Social anxiety is driven by fear of negative judgement: the desire for connection is intact, often painfully so, but fear stands in the way. Social anxiety often begins in adolescence and tends to impact on a range of social situations, often leading to avoidance. In social anhedonia the key issue is a reduction or absence of interest, enjoyment, or reward rather than fear (Barkus and Badcock, 2019).

Social anxiety: you avoid people because you fear being judged or embarrassed. The wish to connect is still there, but fear gets in the way.

Social anhedonia: you avoid people because being with them no longer feels rewarding. It is a lack or loss of enjoyment, not a fear of judgement.

Social anhedonia versus introversion

Introversion is a personality style. Introverts choose solitude, find it restorative, and still genuinely enjoy the company they do choose. Social anhedonia is the absence or loss of that enjoyment itself, rather than a preference (Barkus and Badcock, 2019). If you have always been content with a small social world, that is probably who you are. If connection used to feel good and now no longer does, this change warrants attention.

Why It Happens

Both anhedonia and social anhedonia are symptoms, not diagnoses in their own right. Social anhedonia can appear across a range of conditions, including depression, PTSD, eating disorders, Autism and schizophrenia.

In depression, social anhedonia usually acts as a state-linked symptom: it is present in around a third of people with depression and tends to lift as the person recovers (Barkus and Badcock, 2019). The social flatness experienced is a symptom that can pass with recovery, rather than a fixed part of who you are.

Social anhedonia is often the part of depression that others notice most, because so much of a meaningful life runs through our connections with people. In clinical practice I see a familiar pattern.

As mood drops, a person loses their usual drive and interest in ordinary social connection. They become less spontaneous, feel they have become less fun to be around, and grow more self-critical, which makes socialising feel like harder work.

So they begin to self-isolate, avoiding social activities, which in turn reduces the support available to them. A vicious cycle takes hold, with withdrawal and low mood feeding each other and the depression worsening.

Paradoxically, high levels of social anhedonia often sit alongside genuine loneliness (Barkus and Badcock, 2019). The need for connection has not vanished; it is the reward response that has dimmed. This gap between wanting company and enjoying it can be one of the most painful parts of depression.

The ADHD overlap

Much of my clinical work is with adults with ADHD, so I see this overlap often. Undiagnosed ADHD, especially in men, can lead to social withdrawal after years of feeling subtly out of step with other people, alongside constant cognitive overload (Nearney, ADHD and Men's Mental Health).

This can appear like a loss of interest in people. These ADHD related social challenges are varied: difficulty keeping in touch with friends and organising meeting up, finding busy or noisy gatherings overstimulating or distracting, losing the thread of conversations as attention wanders, or worrying about criticism for blurting things out or interrupting due to verbal impulsivity.

The end result may be seeing people less, but the drivers for this differ from no longer finding them interesting or enjoyable.

The distinction here is that anhedonia is a feature of depression (or another cause) rather than a symptom of ADHD itself. In ADHD, genuinely engaging company can still spark real interest, whereas depressive anhedonia tends to persist even in company you would normally love (Simply Psychology).

In reality, ADHD is commonly co-morbid with depression, creating a more complex picture in which ADHD-related social challenges and anhedonia may overlap. Given that up to 50% of adults with ADHD will experience depression at some stage (Frontiers), it's important to recognise when depression is also present and seek help.

A note on self-diagnosis. This section is here to help you make sense of your experience, not to diagnose you from an article. If the depression or ADHD picture rings true, the next step is a proper assessment with a qualified clinician.

When Withdrawal Is a Sign to Get Help

As a practical threshold, if a loss of interest in people, and in other things you used to enjoy, is present most days and has lasted more than two weeks, it is worth seeing your GP (NHS). Clinicians are trained to explore loss of interest and pleasure as a potential symptom of depression or another mental health problem. They will undertake an assessment based on your individual situation and medical history, which may involve use of questionnaires and further investigations (e.g. blood tests) to rule out other causes.

I want to speak directly to the men reading this, because the figures are stark. Men are less likely to seek help, depression in men may show up as self-withdrawal, irritability, anger, risk-taking or escapism rather than visible sadness, and men are around three times more likely to die by suicide (Mental Health Foundation). We still live with a “man up” culture that pressures men to suffer in silence (Nearney, ADHD and Men's Mental Health). Struggling is not a sign of weakness, and reaching out for help is a courageous act.

“I lost interest in almost everything I used to enjoy and became quite reclusive with little to no interest in being around people especially in the state I was in.”

Mike, Flow user (musician living with depression and ADHD)

Getting the Enjoyment Back

The most hopeful thing I can tell you is well supported by the evidence. Anhedonia in depression is usually state-linked, so treating the underlying depression often restores social reward (Barkus and Badcock, 2019).

As people recover, the pull towards others tends to return, often in small ways at first: replying to a message without dread, saying yes to something small, or feeling lifted when in the company of friends.

Alongside other approaches, behavioural activation is worth knowing about: small, planned steps back into social contact, built up gradually, rather than waiting for the desire to socialise to return first. In depression the reward often follows the action rather than preceding it.

A large UK trial found behavioural activation as effective as CBT at twelve months, and simpler to deliver (Richards et al., 2016). Start with tiny steps to build back confidence: one short walk, one phone call.

For the treatment of depression, Flow is one of the options available. It is a non-invasive, FDA approved and CE certified home treatment for depression that uses transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to deliver a gentle current to an area of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (Flow Neuroscience).

In real-world data, 77% of users report an improvement in their depression within three weeks (Flow Neuroscience evidence).

To be clear, Flow is a treatment for depression rather than for social anhedonia specifically, but as the depression lifts, many users find enjoyment levels improve and begin re-engaging with the people around them.

Want to know if

Flow could be right for you?

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Two practical points. Flow does not cause emotional blunting or sexual dysfunction, which are potential side effects of some medications used for depression.

Flow can be used alongside medication or as a standalone treatment, a decision to make with your doctor. If you already take an antidepressant, please never stop it suddenly or without medical advice, as this can cause withdrawal effects and increase the risk of relapse.

A Final Thought

If being with people has stopped feeling rewarding, please do not settle for believing that this is simply who you are now. In my experience this is very rarely the case. Finding pleasure in social connection again is possible, and I have seen it happen for many patients once their underlying depression was treated. The first step is recognising what is happening, and saying it out loud to someone who can help.

Flow is a medical device approved for the treatment of depression. Approved treatments for depression should be discussed with and supervised by your doctor.

About the author

Dr Hannah Nearney MBChB, MRCPsych, MSc, PGDip(CAT) is a Consultant Psychiatrist specialising in general adult psychiatry, including adult ADHD, autism, and women's mental health. She is UK Medical Director at Flow Neuroscience and a founding partner at Anchor Psychiatry Group in East Anglia. She is a Fellow on the NHS Innovation Accelerator program (2026 cohort) which provides support to scale evidenced-based innovations like Flow tDCS in the NHS to enhance patient outcomes and service delivery. Follow her on Instagram: @psychiatristhannah

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