Learned Helplessness: Why Don’t We Face Our Problems?

What is learned helplessness? Why do we learn not to face our problems? Discover what learned helplessness consists of and how to overcome it through psychology.

When we experience bad things, we tend to believe that we have done everything necessary to change or fix that situation. The learned helplessness It happens when people feel that they have no control over what happens to them, so they usually give up and accept their destiny. In these cases, instead of fighting to get what they want, individuals begin to have a passive role in their lives. But why does learned helplessness happen?

What is learned helplessness? Definition

According to the American Psychological Association, learned helplessness It usually occurs when someone is repeatedly faced with certain stressful or uncontrollable situations but fails to exercise control when they have the tools to do so.

You could say that people with this learned behavior They have the idea that they are helpless in that situation and that is why they do not try to change it, even when it is possible to do so.

The learned helplessness It implies that a person has a conference in which you have discovered that they cannot control the events around them, which causes motivation to try to face the challenges that their life may present. This also means that these individuals tend to have less ability to make decisions, and can even increase the risk of suffering from a depressive disorder. According to Seligman’s theory of learned helplessness, there are three key elements to identify a person with these ‘learned behaviors’:

• Becoming passive in the face of trauma
• Difficulty learning more responses that can help manage the trauma
• Increased stress levels

Seligman and Maier’s theory of learned helplessness

It was in 1967, when the theory of learned helplessness of psychologists Seligman and Maier His research was carried out on dogs and the experiment consisted of the animals themselves being able to control or not control a lever to stop a series of electric shocks they received. In this way, the dogs that could not control them, that is, showed clear signs of depression and anxiety.

After this study, the dogs were subjected to another experiment where they had to avoid the shocks by jumping over a barrier. Those dogs that couldn’t control the shocks in the first experiment didn’t even try to avoid them.

Although this study would not be morally possible today, the reality is that it brought to the attention of learned helplessness According to this research, due to our previous experience, we can develop the cognitive expectation that nothing we will do will avoid or eliminate the negative thing we want to avoid in our lives.

Learned helplessness in adults

The learned helplessness It is often associated with various psychological disorders. Among them we can find depression, anxiety, phobias, shyness and loneliness. For example, a person who feels shy in social situations may begin to feel that there is nothing they can do to overcome these feelings. In these cases, the feeling of seeing that this shyness is beyond their control can lead a person with learned helplessness behaviors to stop trying to get involved in social situations.

Learned helplessness in children

The learned helplessness in children It usually occurs when parents do not respond appropriately to a child’s needs for help. In these cases, children may learn that they cannot change a situation. In fact, if this occurs regularly, this state of helplessness can persist into adulthood. To detect learned helplessness in children, there are a series of signs that are usually characteristic. Among the most notable, psychologists highlight the following:

• Low self-esteem
• Low motivation
• low expectations of success
• Less persistence
• Don’t ask others for help
• Feeling incapable

Children who suffer from this learned behavior they can avoid these feelings by building strong resilience.

Examples of learned helplessness

A study was carried out on learned helplessness in humans in 1974. In this experiment, human participants were divided into three groups: one group was subjected to a loud, unpleasant noise, but was able to end the noise by pressing a button four times; the second group was subjected to the same noise, but the button did not work; and the third group did not undergo any noise.

When exposed again to another similar situation and in the same way that happened with the electric shock experiment in dogs, those who had no control over the noise did not even try to turn off the noise, while the rest discovered how to turn off the noise very quickly.

According to Sligman’s research, we must take into account that these learned behaviors or learned hopelessness They have a connection with depression.

How to unlearn learned helplessness?

The people with learned helplessness They can overcome it. The most common treatment is therapy, especially. This type of behavior is usually treated through cognitive-behavioral therapy. In addition to going to a specialist, psychologists also recommend the following.

• Explore the origin of learned helplessness: Learn where this comes from learned behavior They can help us overcome these feelings of passivity in the face of events.
• Identify our negative thoughts: Normally people with this helpless behavior They usually have very negative ideas in their minds. Therefore, the key is to try to rationalize with these types of thoughts.
• Change behaviors that reinforce learned helplessness: Another key to changing this learned hopelessness It is trying to replace those behaviors that reinforce these types of thoughts towards ourselves.
• Improve our self-esteem: are learned behaviors They tend to be closely linked to a poor conception of ourselves. In this way, by improving our self-esteem we can combat this kind of thinking.
• Set small goals: To understand again that we are not in a helpless situation setting small goals can help us see that we are capable of overcoming these obstacles.

The learned helplessness It can lead to many defects in our daily life. In fact, people with this type of attitude usually put up many personal barriers to achieve what they want so much. For this reason, it is important to work on our self-esteem and personal security.