Learned Helplessness at Fifty: Insights from Neuroscience

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where a person or animal learns to behave helplessly in a particular situation, even when the opportunity to avoid or escape it is available. It occurs after an individual has experienced repeated aversive stimuli (e.g., pain, failure) that they cannot control. As a result, they come to believe that

Seligman and Maier stumbled upon a phenomenon they called learned helplessness. The dogs had learned that pain and suffering were outside of their control. They had no power over what was happening to them, so their only point of recourse was to sit there and take it.

the theory of learned helplessness. According to this theory, if we learn that outcomes are independent of our responses—that nothing we do matters—then we will internalize that lesson and carry it with us to other situations. Even if, objectively, we are not helpless, we will feel helpless. And so we will be less likely, whatever future problems w

learned helplessness. According to this theory, if we learn that outcomes are independent of our responses—that nothing we do matters—then we will internalize that lesson and carry it with us to other situations. Even if, objectively, we are not helpless, we will feel helpless. And so we will be less likely, whatever future problems we face, to tak

as “learned helplessness.” The theory, often attributed to American psychologist Martin Seligman, describes a condition in which a person (or fish) suffers from a sense of powerlessness as a result of traumatic events or persistent failure. For example, a student who repeatedly fails might conclude that he’s a bad student, and thus feel helpless to