Learned Helplessness

Hello I'm Darren again. The topic for today comes from some questions asking what is meant by the term learned helplessness and what would the common signs of learned helplessness be. So today I'm going to look at some different kinds of learned helplessness. I'll give examples and I'll look at the effects that learned helplessness can have on people. But I would like to begin by saying there are some things which we have no control over. There are some Learned helplessness however is a psychological phenomenon where someone learns to feel helpless, unable to control or change a situation even when they can. Even when opportunities or support arise. And it is considered to be a thought disorder rather than a mental health condition. But it can occur when someone repeatedly faces uncontrollable stressful situations but then does not exercise some kind of control whenever it becomes available. If you will they have learned that they are helpless. The concept was first introduced by psychologists Martin Seligman and Stephen Meyer back in the late 1960s through their experiments on dogs. The dogs were exposed to aversive stimuli electric shocks that they couldn't escape. Later when they were given the chance to escape those shocks by just jumping over a barrier they didn't attempt to even though they could. And in human beings learned helplessness often occurs in response to stressful situations or traumatic experiences where someone feels they have a limited control over their environment their well-being or the outcome. It can be observed in people who face ongoing adversity ongoing challenges or repeated failure. It is common in people who have experienced trauma neglect or violence and not just in childhood even in adulthood long periods of prolonged abuse and neglect can lead to feelings of helplessness and powerlessness or situations where support has been denied or withheld or perhaps there have been negative consequences for needing help. So they develop a belief that they have no control over their circumstances. And people who experience learned helplessness can find it difficult to resolve issues either out of fear fearing things will get worse or believing that bad things will happen and they have little control over them anyway. But some common signs of learned helplessness can be first of all low expectations of success often leading to a lack of motivation. It can also be less perseverance less persistence less resilience leading people to give up easily. They could believe they lack ability or no matter what they do nothing will change. For instance in a workplace someone might feel their best efforts won't lead to success or any kind of recognition due to a toxic work environment or constant negative feedback. Despite their best efforts their best ideas they're perhaps constantly met with dismissal or criticism. So eventually they stop making suggestions they stop even trying. Believing their efforts won't be valued or their ideas won't be implemented and they will only be criticized. However if something does work out if they do succeed at something well they may attribute this to something outside of their control such as someone else's efforts or perhaps they just got lucky. They may even just sit back say nothing whenever someone takes the credit for their work or takes credit for their ideas. They believe they can't speak up for themselves. Learned helplessness can also lead to a reluctance to ask for help. Perhaps out of an expectation they will be refused not believed or rejected. Now an example could be in a toxic relationship where one partner constantly sabotages undermines and criticizes the other. The person being undermined believes they have no control over the relationship dynamics. So they might not speak up they might not ask for help no matter what they're going through. Believing the partner will use it against them somehow they will use it to criticize them and undermine them even further. And in some cases this can lead people to believe they have to struggle alone with many issues. No one can help. It can also prevent people from taking steps to either improve the relationship or to leave it if they have to. But another way learned helplessness can be potentially fostered is through excessive coddling and overprotection when someone is continually shielded from experiencing challenges failures or even the natural consequences of their own actions. When someone is constantly protected from difficulties and aren't allowed to face or overcome obstacles on their own they might not develop the skills and the resilience they need to be able to handle adversity. And as a result they might perceive themselves to be helpless or incapable when confronted with challenges. Overprotection over coddling can prevent people from learning essential problem solving skills healthy coping mechanisms or resilience to face adversity. So they might feel ill-equipped to handle the real world. And it can create a sense of dependency for others to solve problems and navigate difficulties for them. Another way learned helplessness can be fostered is when someone is continually criticized judged harshly or even punished when they practice any kind of autonomy any kind of self-efficacy. They are not allowed to do anything without the permission of someone else and no matter what they do it will always be the wrong thing. So some of the effects of learned helplessness can be first of all low self-esteem and low self-confidence. People can second guess themselves. There can be increased anxiety stress and depression feeling both helpless and hopeless. There can be difficulties with decision making. When conflicts arise they may lack assertiveness become passive. They might develop unhealthy coping strategies such as constant avoidance or a constant pessimism. And it can contribute to sometimes worsen symptoms of other mental health conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder addiction PTSD and so on. But it can be overcome. In therapy people can learn the origins of their learned helplessness. They can develop ways to identify unhelpful thinking habits and behaviors and decrease feelings of helplessness. They can work through challenging emotions and improve their self-esteem and confidence. And finally I would like to add in later research Meyer suggested it's not so much learning helplessness but rather not learning a sense of control. Seligman later coined the term learned optimism which can be useful to challenge negative thoughts on the combat of learned helplessness. But maybe that's a topic for another day. I will add the research in the description of this video if you would like to learn some more. So that's a brief outline of learned helplessness. As always if there's anything I've forgotten anything you'd like to add please use the comment box below. As always there are some interesting conversations stored from these videos. But if you find this video interesting please consider subscribing to my channel. And until next time thanks for watching. Just one final thought. Yes there are some things that maybe we don't have any control over. There are some things perhaps we can't change. But sometimes I think we're only as helpless as we've been led to believe we are.