“I am a complete zero”: what is learned helplessness and how to overcome it

We understand the reasons and overcome them together with a psychologist.
The state when a person gives up can have serious consequences. Why does this helplessness arise? What does the word "learned" mean? How to deal with all this?

The state of learned helplessness leads to an experience in which a person did not have the opportunity to change negative events. Also, destructive attitudes are connected here that now he is not able to change anything. There is a certain violation of the connection between efforts and results. Let's analyze the mechanism in more detail. Let's start with the reasons.

Why does it arise and progress?

3 PHOTOS

1. Unsuccessful attempts to change something

Events can be both from the recent past, and from a long time - deep childhood. For example, a mother told a child: “When you become an adult, then you will be independent, but now listen to me in everything.”

In this situation, parents do not think that it is difficult to grow independence and success out of total obedience. The child may make attempts to rebel but gradually learns that it is useless.

Also, the cause may be experienced mental or physical abuse. The fact that resistance will lead nowhere is imprinted in the psyche.

2. Confidence in the lack of personal potential

If a person from early childhood heard from his parents that he lacks the talent or abilities for something, becoming an adult, he will put up with the most terrible and uncomfortable external factors. An unloved job, an inadequate partner - all this will be perceived as an inevitable pattern.

3. Appeal to past failures

As a rule, there will be such logical chains here: “Since I studied poorly at school, it means that there is no point in entering the university. It still won't work." A person believes that the fact of failure in the past determines the future. Perhaps there is some connection here, but not directly everything that determines.

4. Presence of factors of real helplessness
These include the following: illness, old age, and disability. The problem is that there may be a false impression that now a person is helpless in any of the areas of life. To avoid this, it is important to change the attitude toward the new reality.

What does all this threaten?
If a person resigns himself to external circumstances, he stops fighting and accumulates negativity in himself. This leads to hopelessness, apathy, and laziness. Over time, this condition can even lead to clinical depression. It is also reflected in the body, eventually resulting in chronic ailments: cardiovascular diseases and problems with the gastrointestinal tract. All this, of course, reduces the quality of life.

How to overcome this condition
Psychologist Martin Seligman, who is the author of the concept of "learned helplessness", has developed a method for getting out of this state through positive experiences. What plan did he propose?

4. First step. Analyze what and how learned helplessness affects your life.

Second step. Make a list of actions that will help correct the situation. It is important at the same time not to think that you will not succeed, changing your thoughts to positive ones.
Third step. Get into action. Start doing tasks from the list you received. Don't rush, and don't try to do everything at once.
Fourth step. Summarize by focusing on successes, not failures.
Fifth step. Praise yourself constantly to reinforce the positive experience.
Also, the state of learned helplessness is characterized by psychosomatics. Therefore, it is important not only to change life circumstances but also to remove the symptoms. To do this, you need to work with the body: normalize sleep patterns, maintain water balance and play sports.