SMU Study Finds 15-Session PAT Beats Standard Therapy for Anhedonia in 98-Patient Trial
Updated
Updated · SciTechDaily · May 12
SMU Study Finds 15-Session PAT Beats Standard Therapy for Anhedonia in 98-Patient Trial
2 articles · Updated · SciTechDaily · May 12
A randomized trial of 98 adults with severe anhedonia, depression and anxiety found Positive Affect Treatment improved overall clinical status more than a conventional therapy, with the edge still present after one month.
The 15-session psychotherapy targets the brain’s reward system rather than negative emotions, using exercises to rebuild motivation, pleasure, reward learning and habits such as gratitude, savoring and loving-kindness.
Patients also showed significant drops in depression and anxiety, and researchers said shifts in reward and threat processing were central to those gains even though PAT did not directly target negativity.
Anhedonia affects nearly 90% of people with major depression, is tied to suicidality and relapse, and is often left untreated by standard approaches that focus mainly on reducing sadness and other negative symptoms.
Published in JAMA Network Open, the study argues that restoring positive emotion may better address a disabling symptom seen not only in depression but also in anxiety disorders, PTSD, substance use disorders and schizophrenia.
Beyond depression, could this joy-retraining therapy revolutionize treatment for addiction, pain, and self-injury?
Is our digital lifestyle disabling our brains' joy circuits, making new therapies like PAT essential?
Can a therapy ignoring negative emotions heal depression by directly retraining the brain for joy?
Positive Affect Treatment Outperforms Conventional Therapy: New Clinical Trial Shows Lasting Gains in Depression and Anxiety
Overview
A recent study reported in May 2026 marks a significant advancement in mental health treatment by introducing Positive Affect Treatment (PAT) as a potentially more effective approach than conventional methods. The research involved 98 participants who were randomly assigned to receive either PAT or Negative Affect Treatment (NAT), allowing for a direct comparison of their effectiveness. Results showed that clinical status improved more significantly with PAT, and these benefits persisted, with PAT participants maintaining higher clinical status scores at a one-month follow-up. This suggests that PAT offers more robust and lasting improvements in overall clinical well-being.