Ever heard of learned helplessness? It’s very similar to the process of losing your self-confidence; the way it happens is that after a series of attempts at something and constant failures at it – you stop trying even if the situation has changed, and the door for success has opened. It’s the feeling that nothing you do or try will make a difference, so why bother. You lose your motivation and confidence – you become passive and disinterested. People who have been in stressful or dangerous situations and were unable to do anything about it can also develop learned helplessness from the event.
The more people perceive events as uncontrollable and unpredictable, the more stress they experience, and the less hope they feel about making changes in their lives.
Learned Helplessness was first discovered in animals by the American psychologist Martin Seligman.
Experiment – Summary
In the learned helplessness experiment an animal is repeatedly hurt by an adverse stimulus which it cannot escape.
Eventually the animal will stop trying to avoid the pain and behave as if it is utterly helpless to change the situation.
Finally, when opportunities to escape are presented, this learned helplessness prevents any action. The only coping mechanism the animal uses is to be stoical and put up with the discomfort, not expending energy getting worked up about the adverse stimulus.
What distinguishes men (humankind) from animals? Our Cognitive abilities. We can not only think, but we can think about our thoughts. We have control of our cognitive abilities and development.
Learned Helplessness is called LEARNED helplessness because it is something we either learn through observation, a dramatic event or over time through a negative stimulus. Anything we learn can be unlearned – or changed. A pessimistic attitude and outlook plays a big part of learned helplessness.
You don’t need to know how to change your learned helplessness – you only need to be aware you suffer/are plagued by it and to reach out. A program like The Loop of Confidence which has high emphasis on self-discovery and mastering your thought processes will get you to overcome your learned helplessness. Your learned helplessness is a habit, and way of thinking you have developed that isn’t real. Only way to realize it isn’t real is to address it. You need to start trying again and have a different outlook on the outcomes of your efforts which The Loop of Confidence will teach you to do!!
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