Boston Counseling Therapy

Thrilled to Death: How the Endless Pursuit of Pleasure is Leaving us Numb (Book Review, Thomas Nelson 2007)

Are you living a joyless existence?

Despite living in the most affluent times in the history of the world, people are still unhappy. Why?

Dr. Arch Hart proposes that ordinary people are experiencing anhedonia – that is, a diminished capacity or complete inability to feel pleasure. A client from Dr. Hart’s book demonstrates the anhedonia diagnosis:

“My food seems tasteless. A beautiful woman no longer attracts me. Music no longer pleases me. I don’t care if I ever go to a movie again. My friends seem dull. I look forward to nothing. I don’t want to die, but I don’t care about living. I don’t get a kick out of anything, except perhaps making some big deal come to reality.”[i]

According to Hart, it is pleasure that has burned out our ability to experience pleasure. Ironic, yes—but not impossible. Hart explains that, neurologically-speaking, one’s brain can become over-stimulated by continual gratification. He suggests that we have built up a tolerance to enjoyment, the same way a junkie builds up a tolerance to drugs. Because of the tolerance, our brains need bigger and bigger amounts of gratification to get a fix—for many of us only outrageous, exciting, intense experiences of pleasure register, while “simple pleasures” count as nothing.

While the theories in this book seem plausible, there may be other explanations for why so many people seem unhappy. Perhaps it is because we are socially disconnected, focused more on money or material things than on friendships, are experiencing an epidemic of family crises, are workaholics who don’t let ourselves enjoy life, or some other reason not accounted for.

Still, Hart is confident in his analysis, and sees our current situation as dire — “we are probably the unhappiest people that ever lived. To some extent, all of us are now suffering from some degree of anhedonia.” [ii]

Are we really addicted to thrills? Have we built a tolerance to enjoyment? Decide for yourself. If you feel your food has lost its flavor, or if you think you might be a pleasure junkie, give Hart’s book a read. It is a substantial piece of work, focused heavily on strategies for improving your life. Even if you don’t identify yourself as a sufferer of anhedonia, you will at least find good advice from someone with a lifetime of experience and possibly learn to stop and smell the roses.

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