learned helplessness

(noun)

The condition of a human or animal that has learned to behave helplessly, failing to respond even though there are opportunities for it to help itself by avoiding unpleasant circumstances or by gaining positive rewards.

Related Terms

  • external locus of control
  • self-efficacy
  • optimism
  • pessimistic explanatory style
  • quality of life
  • social learning theory
  • locus of control

Examples of learned helplessness in the following topics:

  • Attitude and Health

    • Learned optimism refers to the development of one's potential for this optimized outlook; it is the belief that one can influence the future in tangible and meaningful ways.
    • In contrast, learned helplessness is the belief that one has no control over the events in one's life.
    • Learned helplessness is associated with depression and anxiety, both of which threaten a person's physical and mental well-being; it can also contribute to poor health when people neglect diet, exercise, and medical treatment, falsely believing they have no power to change.
    • Research suggests that optimism and positive outlooks are associated with increased health and well-being, while pessimism and learned helplessness decrease health.
  • Institutionalized Children

    • The second definition refers to reforming mental hospitals' institutional processes so as to reduce or eliminate reinforcement of dependency, hopelessness, learned helplessness, and other maladaptive behaviors.
  • Bandura's and Rotter's Social-Cognitive Theories of Personality

    • Albert Bandura is a behavioral psychologist credited with creating social learning theory.
    • Cognitive processes refer to all characteristics previously learned, including beliefs, expectations, and personality characteristics.
    • Julian Rotter is a clinical psychologist who was influenced by Bandura's social learning theory after rejecting a strict behaviorist approach.
    • An external locus of control may relate to learned helplessness, a behavior in which an organism forced to endure painful or unpleasant stimuli becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are able to escape.
    • Evidence has supported the theory that locus of control is learned and can be modified.
  • Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

    • PTSD is believed to be caused by experiencing any of a wide range of events which produces intense negative feelings of "fear, helplessness, or horror" in the observer or participant.
    • In CBT, individuals learn to identify thoughts that make them feel afraid or upset and replace them with less distressing thoughts.
  • The Evolution of Humans

    • In turn, this resulted in shorter gestation (as babies need to be born before their heads become too large), and more helpless infants who are not fully developed before birth.
    • The ability of the human brain to continue to grow after birth meant that social learning and language were possible.
  • Treatment of Slaves in the United States

    • Whippings, executions, and rapes were commonplace, and slaves were usually denied educational opportunities, such as learning how to read or write.
    • Ensure that the slave is uneducated, helpless, and dependent by depriving them of access to education and recreation.
  • Depressive Disorders

    • The preexisting vulnerability can be either genetic, implying an interaction between nature and nurture, or schematic, resulting from views of the world learned in childhood.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

    • In CBT, individuals learn to identify thoughts that make them feel afraid or upset and replace them with less distressing thoughts.
    • Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) is a psychological injury that results from exposure to prolonged social and/or interpersonal trauma in the context of dependence, captivity, or entrapment (a situation lacking a viable escape route for the victim), which results in the lack or loss of control, helplessness, and deformations of identity and sense of self.
  • Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders

    • Understanding how learning and behavior work in the reward circuit of the brain can help in understanding drug-seeking behavior and addiction.
    • Treatments for addiction usually involve planning for specific ways to avoid the addictive stimulus and/or therapeutic interventions intended to help a client learn healthier ways to find satisfaction.
  • Cluster C: Avoidant, Dependent, and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders

    • In order to be diagnosed, the person must allow others to take over and run their life; is submissive, clingy, and fears separation; cannot make decisions without advice and reassurance from others; lacks self-confidence; cannot do things on their own; and/or feels uncomfortable or helpless when alone.
    • Under the environmental theory, OCPD is seen as a learned behavior.
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