A promising new depression therapy focuses on finding paths to joy

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/05/06/positive-affect-therapy-depression/

Depression treatments focus mostly on decreasing negative emotions. But a study finds that increasing positive ones might be more effective.

“We do a pretty good job of helping people feel less bad,” said Steven Hollon, a professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University who has studied depression and anxiety for decades. Hollon noted that psychotherapy and medication can be very effective at reducing negative emotions. What has been more elusive is getting people with depression or anxiety to actually feel good.

A study published recently in JAMA targeted anhedonia using a relatively new therapy called positive affect treatment. The researchers wondered what would happen if they tried to make people feel good, rather than just less bad.