How Long It Takes to Lower Our Hedonic Line (Pleasure Threshold)

Sure, we all want to get our hedonic line down to lower levels. After all, the faster we lower our hedonic line, the faster and easier we can experience pleasure on a regular basis again. However, how long it takes to lower our hedonic line is a very nebulous question. This question is like asking, “how long will it take to play guitar?” Some people have been playing banjo for 30 years. For them, picking up a guitar and sounding competent may be accomplished in a matter of days or weeks. For others, music is a foreign language in a land which they have never visited. It will be quite some time before they can produce music that resembles a song.

The same applies to learning the coping skills necessary to lower the hedonic line. Some people will have been in therapy many times in the past and have read every self-help book on the planet. These people may be able to catch on to the coping skills necessary to reduce stress much faster. And, thus they will be able to apply the principles with which they are already familiar to this new problem in their life. The only thing that has stopped these people from already having applied their knowledge to the new stress, is that either the stress has just occurred, or they are just realizing their current coping skill has actually become a problem itself.

Other people may have no history of therapy and have stayed as far away from the self-help section of the library as possible. These people typically will have some work to do when it comes to learning some new coping skills. Journaling, or open communication about feelings and emotions can often be uncomfortable and appalling to such individuals. For these people, lowering the hedonic line may take some time; possibly months or years.