Learned Helplessness
My Understanding of Learned Helplessness
As seen in the video “Seligman’s Learned Helplessness” by ihsses (2016), learned helplessness is unconscious since it emanates from negative conditioned learning. My understanding of learned helplessness is that results or outcomes cannot be influenced by behavior. It is a state of the mind whereby an individual becomes unwilling or unable to change results in subsequent encounters. The individual cannot escape an aversive stimulus, but instead, he/she is repeatedly subjected to it regardless of the outcome. The individual will consequently behave as if he/she is helpless to change the result of the situation. Learned helplessness prevents any action even when an individual can escape a harmful situation. They will behave helplessly because the condition makes them feel that there is little they can do to change the situation. Learned helplessness leads to inaction, a situation that leads individuals to overlook prospects for change or relief.
How I Address Helplessness
I address learned helplessness through encouraging myself that I have control over my own feelings. I always advise them that they have to control the situation that engulfs them, and as such, their mental state should not limit what they can do. It is often advantageous to feel the mind with beliefs of what we can achieve. This can enable us to take advantage of the opportunities available in coming out of the situation when we are in the middle of this cycle. An individual’s overall productivity and motivation will enable the brain to deal with failure. An optimistic explanatory style motivates individuals to move out of their current situation no matter what it takes. I also believe that to avoid learned helplessness, an individual will need to be attributive. This means that individuals are to perceive the problem as external and one that they can easily control.
My Sister’s Experience with Learned Helplessness
My sister was married in her late 20s while I was 17 years old. Though I could not comprehend what a stable marriage meant at this age, I could decipher that she was going through a painful experience at her home. Her husband would beat and chase her away. My sister could do nothing since she hoped that her husband would change this character. She ended up staying in this stressful relationship for three years. However much my parents persuaded her to withdraw, she insisted that her husband would probably change with time. Violence became part of her life under the care of an abusive drunkard. She developed the guts to live with abuse. She did not want to leave the relationship since she felt the society would render her worthless and incompetent. It took the intervention of my parents to drive her out of this abusive relationship.
What Was Done to Help
My parents changed the tactic and started to question why she felt to continue with this relationship. They changed the paradigm and called for a meeting with other family members to talk to her. Everyone in the meeting noticed how she was suffering. They persuaded her with many comments regarding her rights in marriage. This changed her thoughts as she began to think about the cause of her suffering. She realized how often she had been ashamed and rendered worthless. My parents encouraged her to view herself differently. They commented on how powerful and influential she was. They further told her how the current situation makes her inferior. Every comment indicated that she was losing control over her life. They described how hurtful it was to stay in an abusive relationship. She realized how worth her life was. She accepted herself back and swore to withdraw from the relationship. My parents had helped her to recognize how important she was.