Anhedonia vs Alexithymia

I have always used the word "anhedonia" to refer to my symptom of "I don't really feel any emotions", but recently I have learned of the term "alexithymia" which may or may not describe that particular symptom better (or do they both help describe it?).

According to Wikipedia:
Anhedonia- Inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable
Alexithymia- Difficulty identifying or describing emotions in the self

I suppose my question is whether there is some sort of line distinguishing anhedonia vs alexithymia with regards to experiencing 'pleasure'. For example, if I have difficulty identifying 'happiness' (alexithymia) within myself because I don't experience 'happiness' (anhedonia), would I use one term over the other or just use both?

I suppose my question is whether there is some sort of line distinguishing anhedonia vs alexithymia with regards to experiencing 'pleasure'. For example, if I have difficulty identifying 'happiness' (alexithymia) within myself because I don't experience 'happiness' (anhedonia), would I use one term over the other or just use both?

You would use the term ''anhedonia'' because you don't experience pleasure.

If you experienced an emotion but couldn't identify it or explain how you're feeling, you would use the term ''alexithymia''.

I have a touch of alexithymia myself.. with this, it's also difficult at times to notice that i'm experiencing an emotion until i consciously attend to the feeling.. when I do pay attention to it however and process it, it's strange.. I have to wonder how i wasn't conscious of it before.


I have to ask though, do you genuinely not experience pleasure at any time at all..? Have you always been like this or is this the result of depression..?

"Not really able to feel emotions" is a symptom of my Dysthymia (now called Persistent Depressive Disorder in the DSM-V), and is something that has been with me for my adult life. I think I had emotions as a child, but that's pretty far back at this point.

Reading around online, I believe a better term would be "apathy" rather than "anhedonia", even though lack of pleasure from 'enjoyable' activities is also part of what I experience. That being said, I'm not sure what the distinguishing factor between apathy and alexithymiic would be, since they seem to me to have the same observable effect to an observer; an altered affect (restricted/blunted/flat).

I don't think the term alexithymiic completely applies to me, since I know there are a few emotions that there is a consistent trigger for (and I can identify those emotions). Beyond my 'calm' (apathetic) emotion all of the time, I get sad when I hear about death, 'indignant' when confronted with what I perceive to be a slight to my rights, and sometimes 'spiteful' when I am contemplating a response (I am able to reason myself out of these when they occur, since they're really counter productive). There are also times when I do experience happiness unconsciously, but it takes a lot more effort (stimulation) and is short lived, passing when I notice it.

That being said, I wouldn't be able to say I'm not able to identify a certain emotion in myself, since by definition I wouldn't be identifying it. I can see when others are experiencing emotions, but my emotional response is lacking.

I suppose for now, "apathy" should be the term I use when talking about what I am experiencing?