Learned Helplessness
Our lives are a conglomeration of nature and nurture. We learn from our environment, how we are raised, our life experiences, and we adjust. Seligman and Maier in 1967 did a study which identified learned helplessness as a phenomenon in dogs. (Sadly) Psychologists did experiments on dogs and found when they were exposed to repeated shocks that they could not control, the animals abstained from taking action when they could prevent the shocks. This coined the term and theory of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness has been associated with and used as an explanation for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in humans. The main features of learned helplessness are lack of motivation, difficulty learning from success and perceived emotional numbness.
Learned helplessness is a psychological state where an individual, after repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events, believes they lack power to change their situations. They feel this way even if opportunities to change the situation arise. They have a decrease in motivation, why try to change if it’s not in my control anyway. They become passive and develop a sense of hopelessness. These feelings can be persistent even when circumstances change and control is possible. Learned helplessness is often associated with depression. Learned helplessness is about responses to failure, not to success. It is better categorized as a control problem versus a competence problem.
It is not like this person all of a sudden wakes up one day and stops trying to change the world around them. The process happens passively, over time, after so many negative events, repeated negative events, that seem to be unavoidable. When a person learns that their behavior makes no difference to their aversive environment, they can stop attempting to escape from aversive things, even if and when escaping is possible. It’s a learned behavior with a function of self-preservation “We can’t change the course of negative events, failure is inevitable and insurmountable”.
Uncontrollable bad events + Perceived lack of control = generalized helpless behavior
Just as learned helplessness is, as is in the name, a learned behavior. Learned hopefulness exists too. It is the antithesis of learned helplessness, a concept also introduced in the 60’s by Seligman. It suggests that by providing opportunities for people to learn new skills and develop a sense of control in their lives, they increase their resilience in challenges of daily living.
Learned optimism is different from learned hopefulness. Learned optimism encourages individuals to challenge their negative thought processes and adopt a more positive outlook. A person can learn to recognize and question automatic thoughts that contribute to feelings of helplessness. It requires active reframing of thoughts, and looking for alternative explanations, outside of defaulting to self-blame or despair.
Learned hopefulness emphasizes the role of actual experiences in shaping one’s outlook and ability to cope with difficulties versus learned optimism’s focus on changing thought patterns.
“For example, instead of thinking, “I failed because I’m not good enough,” a person practicing learned optimism might think, “This was a tough situation, but I can learn from it and do better next time.””
Someone can feel empowered by being given the opportunity to successfully navigate challenges and it can help them develop a sense of mastery and control; furthermore, helping them build confidence and perseverance for future obstacles. Skill building opportunities and supportive environments can help one break free from the cycle of learned helplessness.
If you feel seen by exploring what learned helplessness is, you can seek help. Please contact Life Enhancement Counseling Services at 407-443-8862 to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced mental health counselors.
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