Do you feel stuck in a bad situation? Do you tend to give up easily? Do you feel that no matter what you do, your life will follow a pattern that is out of your control? When you succeed at something, do you feel it is just a fluke? If you answered yes to any of those questions, you might be suffering from a common psychological phenomenon– a devastating phenomenon that affects millions of people every day and causes terrible, unnecessary suffering for those afflicted. The phenomenon is a well-known psychological state known as learned helplessness.
On occasion, nearly all people feel that they are failing in some aspect of their life. When that feeling becomes pervasive, however, and especially if it affects several aspects of life or if the individual feels they will always fail, attention should turn to the concept of learned helplessness. People who feel like failures, people who suffer from frequent bouts of depression, and anyone who feels they are getting nowhere in life should find out if they suffer from learned helplessness. Identifying a problem is always the first step in dealing with a problem.
Learned helplessness can be described in the following way:
A person or animal perceives that they are unable to change a situation, even if the situation is changeable. This feeling of futility is thought to be caused by an individual’s perception of events and their perception of a lack of ability to control these events. The state of helplessness is learned after an individual’s attempts to correct situations failed, or were perceived to have failed. The feeling of helplessness is often expanded to future encounters with similar situations, or even vastly dissimilar situations.
Examples:
A person reared in an environment where they are made to feel powerless as a child may continue to feel powerless as an adult, even though as an adult they have more power to change a situation.
An aspiring entrepreneur fails at a few endeavors; rather than attribute the failing to possible external causes, the entrepreneur believes it is a result of personal ineptitude or even personal bad luck and assumes that he or she will fail at any business. Later, when a truly good business opportunity is presented, the once- aspiring entrepreneur ignores it, or attempts it only half-heartedly, expecting once again to fail.
An abused woman, having been told repeatedly that she is a failure and that she will not be able to live a better life, remains in the relationship even after she is given the opportunity to leave.
A person suffers real or perceived failures in life and establishes the belief that they will always fail in life no matter what they do. The person holds this attitude, and the resulting bad consequences, even when realistic chances to succeed arise. They feel powerless to control a situation.
Researchers note that people who have experienced at least one episode of depression are likely to have another episode; one interesting reason for this has to do with learned helplessness. A person who has had depression in the past is more likely to accept depression as inevitable and less likely to feel they can change it.
Overcoming learned helplessness requires patience and dedication. Getting over a deeply believed sense of futility is no easy task. Indeed, it may require changing both external situations as well as internal beliefs.
If you suffer from learned helplessness, here are some helpful steps you can take:
Find out what situations contributed/caused the feelings of futility.
Acknowledge that although change may take some time, belief structures can be changed.
Make a compassionate decision to work on overcoming learned helplessness.
Find a good support group or therapist who understands learned helplessness and can help guide you through the rougher times.
Learned helplessness can be very subtle. Because the feeling is so interwoven with our deep beliefs about our worth and abilities, it can be a challenge to overcome. Like any similar psychological phenomenon, feelings of futility can become such a habit that we do not recognize that we are involved in a self-defeating process. Learned helplessness can be overcome, however, with time, patience, vigilance, and compassion towards oneself.
