Overcoming Learned Helplessness for Mental Well-Being

Have you ever been to a zoo or an animal park? If yes, you might have noticed that the trained elephants there stand or walk only a certain distance, despite them not being tied to a post. This happens due to a phenomenon called learned helplessness. The concept of learned helplessness is one of the important theories laying the foundation of positive psychology.

Learned helplessness refers to a phenomenon observed in humans and animals when they have been conditioned to expect pain, suffering, or discomfort with no way to escape it. Eventually, such humans and animals will stop trying to escape, even if there is an opportunity, and accept pain without trying to avoid or change its circumstances. In other words, learned helplessness is not an innate phenomenon. Instead, it happens when a human or an animal learns to feel helpless and stays the same even when help is available. 

Seligman’s experiment 

The basis for this theory was laid by the initial experiments conducted by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before reading further, please note that these experiments are not ethically appropriate according to the regulations today.  In Seligman and Maier’s experiments, they worked with dogs and tested their responses to electrical shocks. The dogs were put in a box divided by a low barrier, making two chambers. The chambers represented two groups – experimental and control groups. In the experimental group, the dogs were placed in a chamber that had an electrical floor. In the control group, the dogs were placed in a chamber that did not have an electrical floor. 

When the researchers turned on the electrified floor, they noticed that some of the dogs in the experimental group did not even try to jump over the barrier to get to the other side. They also observed that these dogs were the ones conditioned with the experience of receiving shocks with no way to escape. Seligman and Maier wanted to investigate this phenomenon further. For this reason, they gathered a new sample of dogs and divided them into three groups. 

1. Group one had dogs strapped into harnesses for a certain period with no shocks administered.
2. Group two had dogs strapped into harnesses and received electric shocks, which they could escape by pressing a panel with their noses.
3. Group three had dogs strapped into harnesses and received electric shocks, which they could not avoid by any means. 

These three groups of dogs were then put in the previous box with a low barrier. When the researchers turned on the electrified floor, they observed that the dogs from the first and second groups quickly figured out that they had to jump over to escape the shocks, and that they did. However, most of the dogs from group three were conditioned to receive shocks without any means to escape, and therefore, they did not even attempt to avoid them. Seligman and Maier went on to experiment with rats and found similar observations. 

Learned helplessness in humans 

Although such extreme experiments have not been performed on humans, learned helplessness can still be observed. This is attributable to three deficits – motivational, cognitive, and emotional – that humans adopt as a result of conditioning. The cognitive deficit implies the individual’s belief that their circumstances cannot be controlled. The motivational deficit implies their lack of response to possible means of escaping the unpleasant situation.

The emotional deficit denotes the state of depression as a result of the individual’s inability to control the unpleasant situation. In humans, learned helplessness can occur due to stressful or traumatic situations that people do not have control over, such as abuse, childhood neglect, domestic violence, natural disasters, and other global conflicts such as wars, racism, etc. 

Impact of learned helplessness

Learned helplessness is associated with a lack of sense of control over one’s life circumstances. This phenomenon significantly impacts mental health and might lead to the occurrence of psychological disorders. Learned helplessness might contribute to feelings of anxiety and might influence the onset, severity, and persistence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).  Further, the overlapping neurobiology of this phenomenon with disorders like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and mood disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) suggest the possibility of an association between learned helplessness and these disorders. Although individuals experiencing learned helplessness have the strong belief that they cannot escape the situations they are in, they can overcome learned helplessness if they are willing to put in the effort and receive the necessary support. 

Identifying learned helplessness

But for this to happen, one must first identify that they are stuck in the vicious cycle of learned helplessness. Here are some symptoms that you should watch out for – 

• Low self-esteem: You feel negative about yourself and have constant doubts about how you can accomplish the tasks at hand, no matter how small or simple they might be.
• Passivity: You always say and accept the thought that bad things happen to you, and go on to even expect negative scenarios 
• Lack of effort: You put no effort into changing the circumstances you are in. As a result, you either procrastinate or avoid making decisions about your life circumstances.
• Giving up: You give up at the slightest inconvenience, even if you find yourself working on something that might benefit you in the long run.
• Frustration: Because you feel like everything is out of your control, you end up getting frustrated or overwhelmed while working on your tasks or dealing with others.
• Low motivation: You believe that no matter what you do, things around you are not going to change. So, you are left with no motivation to attempt to do something about pressing issues. 

After identifying one or more of these symptoms, the individual can opt to choose from these options that could help deal with their behaviour.

Overcoming learned helplessness

Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy, particularly Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT), can benefit individuals stuck in the vicious cycle of learned helplessness by helping them overcome the thinking and behavioural patterns contributing to this phenomenon. In CBT, the primary goal is to help clients identify their negative thought patterns and replace those with more optimistic and rational ones, through mental processes such as careful analysis of thoughts, challenging one’s ideas, and disrupting thought patterns that are detrimental to the clients.

Strategies to treat helplessness-related depression 

Abramson et al (1978) listed four strategies to treat depression related to learned helplessness. These include:

• Changing the likelihood of negative outcomes
• Reducing the desire for preferred (negative) outcomes 
• Changing one’s expectations from uncontrollability to controllability 
• Attribute failure to external circumstances, and success to internal factors

Social support 

Transitioning out of learned helplessness can be a challenging journey. During this period of change, receiving social support might be beneficial. Surrounding oneself with the presence of supportive people can help you feel motivated in the face of a challenge and encourage you to keep trying. In the long run, this will help you acquire successful experiences which then, increase your sense of control. In conclusion, learned helplessness can be a phenomenon that leaves a significant negative impact on your mental health. However, it is always possible to rewire your thinking and escape patterns of learned helplessness, with the help of the right effort and right guidance.

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