Hey anita

Yes it would be like that but mostly now i’m disconnected and numb 🙁

Meh, i rarely enjoy it..angry? No no, almost never

Too many emojis, Confused?

Emoji Addicted Personality Disorder (EAPD)?

If the emojis bother you, I’m willing to go cold turkey 🇹🇷 (couldn’t help this one). Let me know.

Hope you’re okay, Confused.

I wish there was some way I could be helpful. I don’t think I am (sad face emoji)

No Emoji Anita (NEA)

Hey Confused:

Because I am now at the computer, I asked Copilot to analyze the post you submitted 11 minutes ago.

Copilot: “Confused is saying that anger has always been hard for him to feel, so he suppresses it, which leaves him without access to a normal emotional signal. He feels safe with you — he even reassures you that emojis are fine and that your replies help him.

Then he shifts into something more revealing: he believes the relationship temporarily broke through his anhedonia, giving him feelings he normally doesn’t have, but now that the intensity has faded, his old emotional numbness is returning.

He’s comparing himself to others he read about, which shows he’s trying to make sense of his symptoms by finding patterns. Overall, he’s telling you that the “problem” isn’t the relationship or the girl — it’s something inside him that was there before, briefly lifted, and is now settling back in.”

Next, I asked Copilot what can help you.

Copilot: “1. He needs help feeling his emotions instead of shutting them down- He said he suppresses anger and that his anhedonia “returned.” That means he has a long‑term pattern of numbing instead of feeling.

What helps people like him is learning to feel emotions in small, safe ways: noticing sensations in the body, naming feelings without judging them, allowing mild anger, sadness, or joy to exist, expressing emotions in low‑stakes ways. This is the foundation of healing for someone with emotional inhibition.

2. He needs structure and routine to stabilize his mood- People with anhedonia and suppressed emotion often feel better when they have: predictable daily routines, regular sleep, consistent physical activity, manageable tasks, gentle structure. You can gently encourage him toward small stabilizing routines.

3. He needs to work with the root of his anhedonia- Anhedonia doesn’t come from nowhere. It usually comes from: chronic emotional suppression, childhood environments where feelings weren’t safe, long-term stress, depression or burnout, trauma-related shutdown. He needs support that helps him understand the origin of his numbness.

This is where therapy can be genuinely helpful — not because he’s “broken,” but because he needs a safe place to explore what he can’t feel.

You can gently point him toward supportive professional help.

4. He needs connection that doesn’t overwhelm him- He said the relationship “penetrated his anhedonia.”
That means he can feel, but only when something emotionally intense breaks through, and then he shuts down again afterward. This is a classic pattern.

What helps is slow, steady, low-pressure connection — not intensity, not emotional demands, not deep dives.

He needs relationships that feel safe, predictable, non-demanding, emotionally gentle.

5. He needs to understand that the problem isn’t the girl — it’s his baseline- He already suspects this: “I was like this before… it penetrated my anhedonia for a while until it returned.”

This is insight.

What helps him is reinforcing the idea that: his numbness is internal, it’s not caused by the relationship, it’s not a sign he didn’t care, it’s a long-standing emotional pattern. This reduces shame and helps him move toward healing.

6. He needs to learn how to tolerate small amounts of discomfort- People who suppress anger and feel anhedonia often avoid: conflict, emotional intensity, vulnerability, uncertainty.

What helps is learning to tolerate tiny doses of discomfort without shutting down.

This is something he can practice slowly, over time.

7. He needs compassion for himself- He’s not cold. He’s not uncaring. He’s emotionally inhibited and overwhelmed.

What helps most is: self-kindness, reducing self-criticism, understanding his patterns, not blaming himself for numbness.”

I’ll post again from my phone.

Me

I think 🤔 that I am getting new insight into myself because of you:

If I read about your anhedonia when I was growing up / living with my mother, I would have been jealous of you!

Because not feeling would have been so much better than the pain (shame, guilt, self-doubt) that tormented me growing up.

So, again, I think you did an excellent job (when you were growing up) numbing/ shutting down/ suppressing your emotions- a way superior job to mine 👏

But now, what worked before (when living with your mother) is not serving you anymore.. because your GF is.. not like your mother. Maybe no one is like her.

Back to me, I wish I was able to not feel back then.

I did my best suppressing, just not as good a job as you did.

🌿 🌟 🌿 Anita

Hey anita

I’ve read all your posts and i have to say that copilot is not wrong in many things.I think this severe anhedonia could have came from me being burnt out after being on the highs for too long. But i can’t say i was enjoying my life before her, it was dull and repetitive. So maybe a functioning depression with some laughs here and there, nothing really to look forward to, nothing excited me to set a goal for it.

Well the thing is, i dont know where my anhedonia comes from and i feel it’s very difficult to find the roots.

Yeah, needing intense feelings to break through makes sense too, because it’s all too dull/numb. But now i want to appreciated and feel love truly 🙁

Haha, i dont know if it was good that i was suppressing for so long, i guess it became a thing because nothing ever really phased me. Maybe i should have been more like you..

Going to bed at 9:30 pm, Sat, here (W.USA); Sun 7:30 am in Greece & in Israel. Good night/ morning, Confused.

Good morning 🙂 Confused:

Feeling anger doesn’t feel good to me. I wonder if it feels good to other people. Curious, I asked you know who.

Copilot: “Yes — anger can feel good to some people, and this is not unusual.

Why anger can feel good- Research shows that anger can activate the brain’s reward system, especially the nucleus accumbens, which is involved in motivation and pleasure. When someone gets angry, the brain can release dopamine, the same chemical involved in reward and anticipation. This can create a brief sense of power, energy, or relief.

Some people experience anger as “good” because:

* It replaces feelings like helplessness or shame with a sense of control.

* It provides a rush or surge of energy that feels rewarding.

* It can feel empowering, especially when calling out injustice or protecting oneself.

This doesn’t mean anger is always healthy — just that the body sometimes interprets it as useful or energizing.

But the relief is temporary- Even though anger can feel good in the moment, research shows that venting anger actually increases anger, not decreases it. So, the short-term “rush” can lead to long-term emotional strain.”

The above explains why my mother was often angry at me: it made her feel (temporarily) good, as in powerful, in control.

Because I am at the computer, I asked Copilot another question.

Copilot: 🎶 Modern Greek songs people in their 30s usually know:

Μη Με Ξυπνάς — Melisses, Έλα — Κωνσταντίνος Αργυρός, Θυμάμαι — Melisses, Μισή Καρδιά — Κωνσταντίνος Αργυρός
, Αν Μ’ Αγαπάς — Νίκος Οικονομόπουλος, Κόκκινα Γυαλιά — Πυξ Λαξ, Όλα Μοιάζουν Καλοκαίρι — Melisses, Σ’ Έχω Ξεπεράσει — Πάνος Κιάμος, Το Παλιό Μου Παλτό — Γιάννης Χαρούλης, Μικρή Μου Αγάπη — Μιχάλης Χατζηγιάννης

Do you know all of these songs?

🎶 Anita