2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43
He felt sad and painful because of his underdevelopment, a halt in the growth of moral strength, for the heaviness that interferes with everything; and envy gnawed at him, that others lived so fully and widely, while it was as if a heavy stone had been thrown on the narrow and pitiful path of his existence.
"Oblomov" I. A. Goncharov
Each of us has faced our own impotence. A difficult and difficult feeling. For one person, such a feeling is the reason for aggression: fights, swearing, sharp remarks, for another - confirmation of the idea of the weakness of his character and that it is worthless to do anything. If there are many such situations in a person's life, then we can say that there is a place for "learned helplessness" in his life.
So, the state in which a person can change the situation for the better, but does not do it, is called "learned helplessness."
M. Seligman discovered this phenomenon by conducting experiments on dogs. Then, he and other researchers found that there is a place for this phenomenon in people's lives too.
For example, when a group of schoolchildren was given an obviously impossible task, some of them (≈30%) refused to complete the task, but the rest of the group was determined to overcome difficulties and tried to solve the problem.
Also, in the nursing home, research was carried out on the group that could make decisions: how to arrange furniture, which plant to care for, etc. This group felt significantly better physically compared to the closely looked after group.
Three kinds of helplessness:
Active - an inability to act by actively intervening in a situation.
Cognitive - there is no willingness to learn new effective behavior.
Emotional - a reduced background of mood due to a lack of willingness to act.
The birth of learned helplessness:
- parental fears and anxiety, aimed at the child, expressing most often in destructive parental messages: "Nothing sensible will grow out of you." "You will be a janitor, cleaner, alcoholic, drug addict, ignoramus …".
- overprotection on the part of the mother and passive behavior on the part of the father. The child does not learn to be independent, and the fantasy is fixed that all desires will be fulfilled by magic. Why act if mom will bring everything. Why feel if mom foresees all feelings. Why show will in solving a difficult problem if mom will come running and help.
Izya go home !!! What's cold? No, eat. (c) anecdote
The formation of learned helplessness in adulthood is possible under the following circumstances:
1) Many stress factors in one period of time, after which comes emotional and physical exhaustion.
2) Unfavorable conditions in which the person is. At work, this can be an environment when a person's qualities and talents are not in demand. There are scandals and quarrels in the family.
3) Is among helpless people. So in a smoking company many people start smoking. A hardworking person rarely survives among lazy people. There is a mechanism of psychological contamination when the environment (tribe) influences our habits and values.
4) The presence of negative attitudes, such as: “I will not cope. My failures, but your success. My life does not depend on me. I have nothing to love and respect. If I start something new, I will definitely not succeed."
How to deal with learned helplessness?
- Shift your focus to your areas of success. A lot of things can turn out just fine, but thoughts can be focused on failure. Stop and see what you do. Each time you do this, the hormone of joy will be released. Thus, you can reconfigure your neural network.
- Revision of the environment. Spend more time with those people with whom you feel free, relaxed. It is advisable that they practice the lifestyle that you want to come to. The mechanism of positive psychological infection will work.
- Keep a diary. This will be an unusual diary.
- Clear awareness
1) Think about what is personally harmful to you and what is good.
2) How can I achieve my goal in this situation.
3) What forces are behind my desire to do or not to do.
4) Between what alternatives I am choosing now.
5) What are the consequences of my choice.
6) Accept that there is little awareness, it is important act, despite possible difficulties and hardships.
- Meditation … The simplest five-minute practice - for example, concentrating on inhaling and exhaling in the absence of thoughts, allows you to activate the frontal area of the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for our will.
- Psychotherapy … Not all recommendations are easy and simple to implement on your own. Psychotherapy is an excellent method for dealing with learned helplessness.
In conclusion, I will say that research in the field of neuropsychology claims that we can change our lives at any age. The human brain rebuilds neural networks and rewards correct behavior with dopamine (the hormone of pleasure).
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