People who develop learned helplessness lack the motivation to apply coping strategies in adverse situations
Rats previously exposed to repeated uncontrollable stressors were shown to be unable to learn how to avoid shocks. Martin Seligman, one of the leading researchers in the study, argues persuasively that animals suffering from learned helplessness share many psychological features with depressed humans. Such animals have a motivational problem—one of the reasons that they are helpless is that they often do not even attempt a coping response when they are in a new situation. This is quite similar to the depressed person who doesn’t even try the simplest task that would improve her life. “I’m too tired, it seems overwhelming to take on something like that, it’s not going to work anyway….”
References
- Sapolsky, Robert. (2004). Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers Chapter 14. Stress and Depression (p. 427). New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Metadata
Type:🔴 Tags: Psychology / Psychiatry Status:☀️