The document discusses the concept of learned helplessness, which refers to a state where individuals feel they lack control over their situation, leading to resignation and a belief that their actions are futile. It explores psychological theories related to explanatory styles, distinguishing between pessimistic and optimistic outlooks, and details the negative health implications and social impacts of learned helplessness. The document also highlights self-help strategies and professional interventions to combat feelings of helplessness.

1. LEARNED
HELPLESSNES
S

2. ILNU, Ahmedabad, India
 Adimesh Lochan
 Aditya Shukla
 Prafull Bhardwaj
 Prateek Shrivastava
 Sumit Singh Bhadauriya
 Utkarsh Jain
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4. “IF YOU ARE IN A BAD SITUATION YOU WILL
DO WHATEVER YOU CAN DO TO ESCAPE IT”
“IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU AREN’T IN CONTROL
OF YOUR SITUATION , YOU WILL GIVE UP
AND ACCEPT WHATEVER SITUATION YOU
ARE IN”

5. INFORMAL DEFINITION
 Giving up .
 Expectations of future non contigency
outcomes no longer depends on actions.
 BELIEVING it wont matter what I do.
 BELIEVING I have no control over the
outcome.
 The belief that your actions are futile.
 BELIEVING you are incompetent.

6. Negative Reinforcement
Negative reinforcement occur
when something already
present is removed ( or taken
away ) as a result of person’s
behavior, thereby creating
favourable outcome for that
person in future.

7. EXPERIMENTAL
EVIDENCES OF
LEARNED
HELPLESSNESSCLASSIC EXPERIMENT ON DOGS BY MARINE(1969)

8. EXPLANATORY STYLES
Explanatory style is a psychological attribute that indicates how people
explain to themselves why they experience a particular event, either
positive or negative.
Three components in explanatory style:
1. Pervasive (global vs. specific)
This involves how one explains the extent of the effects.
2. Permanent (stable vs. unstable)
This involves how one explains the extent of the cause.
2. Personal (internal vs. external)
This involves how one explains the cause of an event.

9. BERNARD WEINER'S ATTRIBUTION THEORY
(1985-86)
This attribution theory includes the dimensions of
1. GLOBALITY: Cause of a negative event is consistent across
different contexts.
SPECIFICITY: Cause of a negative event is unique to a
particular situation.
2. STABILITY: Cause is consistent across time.
INSTABILITY: Cause is specific to one point in time.
3. INTERNALITY: An external attribution assigns causality to
situational or external factors
EXTERNALITY: An internal attribution assigns causality to
factors within the person.

10. People who generally
 tend to blame themselves for negative events,
 believe that such events will continue indefinitely, and
 let such events affect many aspects of their lives
display what is called a pessimistic explanatory
style.

11. Conversely, people who generally
 tend to blame others for negative events,
 believe that such events will end soon, and
 do not let such events affect too many aspects of their
lives display what is called an optimistic explanatory
style.

12.  Attributing outcomes to controllable causes
such as effort, an internal unstable attribution,
would then lead to an active task approach.
 Attributing outcomes to uncontrollable
situations such as lack of ability, in contrast,
would lead to the undesirable causes of
learned helplessness (Dweck, 1975).

14. HEALTH
IMPLICATIONS

16. SYMPTOMS
 DECREASE IN APPETITE
 INSOMNIA OR HYPERINSOMNIA
 LACK OF ENERGY
 SUICIDAL THOUGHTS
 FEELING OF WORTHLESSNESS AND
GUILT

17. SELIGMAN’S OBSERVATION
CHARACTERISTIC SYMPTOMS OF
DEPRESSION
1. Emotional disturbance- sadness and hopeless
outlook towards life.
2. Reluctant to initiate action-characteristics of
severe depression
3. Cognitive deficient- difficulty in solving
problems or learning learnable things

18. SOCIAL
IMPACT

19. LEARNED HELPLESSNESS IN
SOCIETY
 IN THE CLASSROOM-
Students who repeatedly fail may conclude that they are
incapable of improving their performance, and this
attribution keeps them from trying to succeed, which
results in increased helplessness, continued failure, loss
of self esteem and other social consequences.
 IN CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS-
It may be a factor in the development of a victim
mentality in a Child or young adult. By being repeatedly
exposed to uncomfortable or painful situations, such as
bullying or abuse by their peers, the person may stop
trying to cope with painful social situations. This can
lead to continued stress, feelings of self-hatred, and
maladaptive behaviors such as avoiding all social
interactions.

20.  Those who are extremely shy or anxious in social
situations may become passive due to feelings of
helplessness. Gotlib and Beatty (1985) found that
people who cite helplessness in social settings may
be viewed poorly by others, which tends to reinforce
the passivity.
 IN AGING INDIVIDUALS-
They may respond with helplessness to the deaths
of friends and family members, the loss of jobs
and income, and the development of age-related
health problems. This may cause them to neglect
their medical care, financial affairs, and other

21. WAYS TO OVERCOME LEARNED
HELPLESSNESS
 BY THE PERSON HIMSELF
 BY PSYCHIATRISTS

22. SELF HELP (BY BRINGING IN
THEIR PERONALITY/ATTITUTE)
1. CHANGE IS POSSIBLE
2. THINK BIG
3. GET PERSPECTIVE
4. SET GOALS
5. ACHIEVING SUCCESS
6. CONSIDER DIFFERENT POINTVIEW

23. PROFESSIONALS/PSYCHIATRIS
T
1. USING METAPHORS
2. VIVE LE DIFFERENCE (
DIFFERENCE RULE)
3. ENCOURAGING ACTIVE PROBLEM
SOLVING

24. Thank you