November 25, 2023

Tanith Carey on why we might be feeling ’Blah’ and how to overcome it

30 minutes

My guest this time is Tanith Carey - an award-winning writer and author of 12 books on psychology, parenting and social history, her writing has been featured in the Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, The Spectator and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Her latest book is called ‘Feeling ‘Blah’?: Why anhedonia has left you joyless and how to recapture life’s highs.’

In this interview we cover:

How she noticed a ‘lack of joy’ in her own day to day life and subsequently discovered the term “anhedonia” for the first time whilst late-night Googling

the clash between our 'cave-dweller brain' and our 'always-on/more, more, more' modern world of comparison culture and how this hijacks our dopamine reward circuits to create a perfect breeding ground for anhedonia

what dopamine is actually ‘for’ - it may not be what you think…

our inbuilt ‘negativity bias’ and how to combat it

“glimmers” - little moments of joy that can help reduce cortisol levels

how oestrogen and our other hormones impact the 'feel good chemicals' in us as cyclical beings and especially in peri/menopause

how stress is the greatest enemy of joy there is…and how anticipation of ‘planned in’ activities that bring rest, enjoyment, or feed our ‘spark’ can make such a big difference to how we feel

how joy is actually made up of three different components, rather than being just one thing

how behavioural activation works

how we 'get our mojo back' - the ‘water pump’ analogy

the impact of exercise and gratitude on our mood

the difference between anhedonia and depression

And much, much more!

You can find Tanith at https://www.instagram.com/tanithcarey and https://www.instagram.com/no_more_blah_book and you can buy Feeling Blah fromhttps://www.waterstones.com/book/feeling-blah/tanith-carey/9781801292375 or wherever you buy your books!

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You can also find me at www.thetripleshift.org

connect with me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmacthomas/

follow along on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/middlingalong_podcast/

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By Emma Thomas

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