Learned Helplessness. How do you explain challenging events?

Learned Helplessness

G’day all,

This week at Science Saturday, we will look at learned helplessness.

Learned what?

Sounds depressing.

Well, it can be. It is a psychological phenomenon where if we experience a stressor repeatedly and come to the conclusion that we cannot control or change the situation, we stop trying.[i]

Like many things, in science, the concept of learned helpless was largely stumbled on by accident. And unfortunately, it was found during the course of animal studies (in the 1960s).

Martin Seligman, psychologist, was approached by one of colleagues who was doing an experiment using dogs and found that the dogs just stopped doing anything. I won’t go into details because as you know, we love dogs (apparently it was nothing too painful). However, it turns out that the dogs had learned that there was nothing they could do to escape from a high-pitched tone so stopped trying. Seligman, came to the conclusion that if dogs could learn the futility of their actions, there was an analogy to human helplessness.[ii]

People in a state of learned helplessness usually accept that a bad things happens and it is not in their control to do anything about it.[iii] This then generalises so that they feel they have control over anything and stop trying full stop.[iv]

One of the biggest contributing factors to this how people explain bad events. Those who had learned to be helpless explained bad events as being

Personal – it is my fault.

Permanent – it is not going to change.

Pervasive – it applies to all aspects on my life.[v]

Photo by Koldunova_Anna/iStock / Getty Images

As you can imagine, this is linked with several mental health conditions including depression and research has shown that if increases feelings of stress and anxiety.[vi] 

The effects are also present in children. From a study of 400 hundred children, Seligman suggested that those with pessimistic explanatory scale are at a serious disadvantage, including school performance and are characterised by low self-esteem.[vii][viii]

If you think you are suffering from learned helplessness and are suffering from mental health issues, then please see your health professional. You can also examine how you explain bad habits in your life. Do you see things as personal, permanent or pervasive?

Photo by AnsonLu/iStock / Getty Images

[i] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325355

[ii] Seligman, M. E. (2006). Learned optimism: How to change your mind and your life. Vintage.

[iii] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325355#in-adults

[iv] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/learned-helplessness

[v] Seligman, M. E. (2006). 

[vi] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325355#management

[vii] Seligman, M. E. (2006). 

[viii] https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325355#who-it-affects