All our actions in daily life have a consequence and our environment is shaped by the consequences of our actions. We repeat or give up our actions depending on the consequences of our actions. However, not every situation we encounter in daily life occurs due to our actions. We may think that we have no effect on some events.
Thus, we try not to encounter these events or situations or we start not to react to them. Thus, we can gradually become inactive towards similar events and develop a belief that our response will definitely not change the outcome. As a result, we can experience emotional stress. 1
In this context, Learned Helplessness: When a person encounters certain events and situations outside of their sphere of influence, they begin to believe that the behavior and the outcome of the behavior are independent of each other.
As a result, people may experience motivational, cognitive and emotional problems:
Motivational problems: Individuals may subsequently experience difficulties or reluctance to react/respond to certain situations they encounter.
Cognitive problems: People may think that even if they react/respond to similar situations they encounter later, this will not change the outcome.
Emotional problems: People may begin to have difficulty managing their emotions and may experience psychiatric problems such as depression and anxiety .
If these problems persist for a long time and cannot be dealt with, people may experience Learned Helplessness Syndrome.
When a person encounters negativity, they tend to attribute this negativity to a reason. This reason can be permanent or temporary, general or specific, internal or external .
The type of explanation given to these situations affects how learned helplessness will manifest itself. Some of the symptoms that may indicate Learned Helplessness Syndrome are:
Lack of motivation: People often experience a lack of motivation. They may be unmotivated and have a hopeless attitude towards the work they have to do. This may manifest itself as a decrease in the person's general motivation level.
Expectation of Failure: People experiencing Learned Helplessness may expect failure. They may state that they will not make any effort or that they believe that even if they do, the outcome will not change.
Negative Thoughts and Self-Talk: People may often have negative thoughts and self-talk. They may tend to think they are worthless or inadequate and may engage in constant negative self-talk.
Avoidance Behaviors: People may tend to avoid problems rather than confronting challenges and solving them.
Emotional Symptoms: Individuals may exhibit depressive symptoms. They may experience hopelessness, helplessness, anxiety, and symptoms such as low self-esteem may occur.
These symptoms are clues that can be observed for observation purposes. However, each individual may react differently. Therefore, it is important to carefully observe the person's general behavior and emotional state and consult a specialist to fully understand the symptoms.
Since Learned Helplessness Syndrome is a cognitive, motivational and emotional state that emerges as a result of “learning”, it can be experienced in different areas of life.
A student who could not get a passing grade on an exam he studied for might think that he is not good enough to pass the exam or that he has been very tired lately. In both cases, he tries to explain his situation with some internal processes.
Furthermore, the student might think that he took the exam on an unlucky day or that the exam was not fair and measurable enough: In this case, the student tries to explain the result with some external (independent) reasons.
If a student uses these explanations continuously, after a while he/she may start to develop a belief that the grade he/she gets from the exam is independent of him/herself and his/her efforts. It may not always be easy to realize this belief.
Thus, this student may lose hope and motivation for the next exams. 3