What is learned helplessness

When kids feel that they've had no control over the past events of their lives, they gain the expectation that future events will be just as uncontrollable. Because they believe that nothing they do will ever change the outcome of an event, kids are often left thinking that they should not even bother trying. Academic struggles can also potentially lead to feelings of learned helplessness. A child who makes an effort to do well but still does poorly may end up feeling that they have no control over their grades or performance.

Since nothing they do seems to make any difference, they will stop trying and their grades may suffer even more. Such problems can also affect other areas of the child's life. Their poor performance in school can make them feel that nothing they do is right or useful, so they may lose the motivation to try in other areas of their life as well. Learned helplessness may also contribute to feelings of anxiety and may influence the onset, severity, and persistence of conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder GAD.

When you experience chronic anxiety, you may eventually give up on finding relief because your anxious feelings seem unavoidable and untreatable. Because of this, people who are experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety or depression may refuse medications or therapy that may help relieve their symptoms.

As people age learned helplessness can become something of a vicious cycle. When encountering problems such as anxiety or depression, people may feel that nothing can be done to ease these feelings. People then fail to seek out options that may help which then contributes to greater feelings of helplessness and anxiety.

So what explains why some people develop learned helplessness and others do not? Why is it specific to some situations but more global in others? Attribution or explanatory styles may also play a role in determining how people are impacted by learned helplessness.

This view suggests that an individual's characteristic style of explaining events helps determine whether or not they will develop learned helplessness. A pessimistic explanatory style is associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing learned helplessness.

People with this explanatory style tend to view negative events as being inescapable and unavoidable and tend to take personal responsibility for such negative events. So what can people do to overcome learned helplessness?

Research suggests that learned helplessness can be successfully decreased, particularly if intervention occurs during early onset. Long-term learned helplessness can also be reduced, although it may require longer-term effort. Therapy can be effective in reducing symptoms of learned helplessness. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is a form of psychotherapy that can be beneficial in overcoming the thinking and behavioral patterns that contribute to learned helplessness.

The goal of CBT is to help patients identify negative thought patterns that contribute to feelings of learned helplessness and then replace these thoughts with more optimistic and rational thoughts.

This process often involves carefully analyzing what you are thinking, actively challenging these ideas, and disputing negative thought patterns. One animal study suggested that exercise may be helpful in reducing symptoms of learned helplessness. Learned helplessness can have a profound impact on mental health and well-being. People who experience learned helplessness are also likely to experience symptoms of depression , elevated stress levels, and less motivation to take care of their physical health.

Not everyone responds to experiences the same way. Some people are more likely to experience learned helplessness in the face of uncontrollable events, often due to biological and psychological factors. Children raised by helpless parents, for example, are also more likely to experience learned helplessness.

If you feel that learned helplessness might be having a negative impact on your life and health, consider talking to your doctor about steps you can take to address this type of thinking. Further evaluation can lead to an accurate diagnosis and treatment that can help you replace your negative thought patterns with more positive ones. Such treatment may allow you to replace feelings of learned helplessness with a sense of learned optimism instead.

Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter. Learned helplessness at fifty: Insights from neuroscience. Psychol Rev. American Psychological Association. Learned helplessness. Nuvvula S. Contemp Clin Dent. Seligman ME. Annu Rev Med. It typically begins after experiencing repeated traumatic events, such as childhood abuse or domestic violence.

Explanatory styles also play a role in its development. People with a pessimistic explanatory style — causing them to view negative events as being unavoidable and resulting from their own shortcomings — are more likely to experience learned helplessness.

People with an optimistic explanatory style are less likely to do so. Learned helplessness is linked with depression, PTSD, and other health problems. Research indicates that it increases feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression in both humans and animals. One study , for example, suggests that learned helplessness may increase the risk of PTSD and major depressive disorder in women who have lived with domestic violence for a long time.

The most common treatment is therapy, especially cognitive behavioral therapy CBT. CBT helps people overcome these types of challenges by changing how they think and act. Some research suggests that exercise can prevent learned helplessness in animals. Though there is no research into this particular effect of exercise in humans, physical activity usually benefits mental health and can reduce or prevent anxiety, depression, stress, and other health problems.

Certain factors, such as a history of abuse and a pessimistic outlook, can make a person more prone to learned helplessness. Anyone who believes that they are experiencing learned helplessness should consider speaking with a mental health professional who can help them take control of their circumstances.

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Its symptoms are similar to those…. What is learned helplessness? Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, Ph. What is it? Theory In adults In children Who it affects Related conditions Treatment Summary Learned helplessness is a state that occurs after a person has experienced a stressful situation repeatedly. Share on Pinterest A person who experiences stressful or traumatic situations may develop learned helplessness. Instead of a shock, the participants were subjected to loud noise, with one group repeatedly unable to escape it.

Those people that had learned that they could not shut off the noise never tried to turn it off, even when they were eventually able to do so. Learned helplessness is often seen in cases of abuse and neglect. People who are subject to trauma often feel powerless to do anything about their circumstances and learn to accept their inability to change the outcome. Learned helplessness does not always occur as the result of trauma, however. It can occur from repeated negative events that occur as part of daily life.

For example, a child that has a learning disability or intellectual deficit may have difficulty getting good grades. No matter how hard they try, they are unable to improve their academic performance. After a while, they may stop making an effort because they feel it does them no good. Their lack of effort contributes to continued poor performance and reinforces their feelings of helplessness. Interestingly, learned helplessness does not necessarily have to be the consequence of a series of events.

It can also be due to a lack of self-efficacy brought on by depression. Individuals experiencing depression often have a negative and self-defeating point-of-view. They tend to interpret their situation negatively even if the evidence does not support their perspective. Their negativity may contribute to a poor consequence and they begin to believe that they are unable to produce a positive outcome This vicious cycle creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Learned helplessness is often associated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD. In the case of depression and anxiety, it can be difficult to know which occurred first. The following are additional symptoms related to learned helplessness:. It makes sense that people who exhibit learned helplessness will also possess low self-esteem.

When you feel like you have no control over your outcomes you are likely to feel powerless and poorly about your abilities. This overarching negativity contributes to poor self-image and depressive feelings. Attributional style refers to how you explain to yourself the reasons for your success and failure. Therefore, they only give themselves credit when something bad happens. It is as if they feel they have a black cloud following them around.

For someone with learned helplessness, effort does not produce the desired outcome. Procrastination is often exhibited because they would rather put off the negative consequence.

Perseverance is a hallmark of success.