Musical Anhedonia
Music is loved by everyone, right?
If there is one thing true in this world it’s that there are exceptions to almost everything. Anhedonia is the inability to derive pleasure from things, food, sexual activities, music are just a few examples. While it is one of the most notable signs of major depressive disorder anhedonia could simply be the result of how your brain responds (or doesn’t respond) to certain stimuli.
Musical anhedonia is where a person is unable to feel the pleasure many of us feel when listening to music. Things like emotional responses towards music simply do not occur. When many of us listen to music, particularly if we like it, we have neurological responses. Some people’s neurological response is greater than others. While complete apathy towards music is experienced only by about 5% of the entire world’s population we need to be aware of the fact that it exists and to not give someone a hard time if they are apathetic towards music.
If you meet someone who has musical anhedonia don’t belittle them or complain. You can’t help what you are drawn to and not everyone shares the same interests. In addition to that their perspective will be different and differences in perspective will help you to understand the world around you, regardless of whether or not you agree.
Many of us like and appreciate music, however, it’s okay that we don’t all like the same things It’s the differences that make this world special.
If you would like to learn more about musical anhedonia then check out this article: Inside the Heads of People Who Don’t Like Music by DIVYA ABHAT. It is very informative and provides results from research on the topic as well as how some people with musical anhedonia feel about music.