It is hard to find hope in these times of uncertainty.  What feels like an almost constant stream of bad news can cause anyone to have doubt about the future.  Or you may be a person who fears change even in the most stable of times.    If either of the statements sounds true, you may be suffering from learned helplessness.  The good news here is that there are tools for overcoming learned helplessness.  This blog entry will define learned helplessness. Future entries will give you tools for dealing with it.
Learned helplessness is the condition in which a person has learned to believe that they are helpless in a particular situation. They believe that they have no control and that whatever they do is futile. As a result, the person will stay passive in the face of an unpleasant, harmful or damaging situation, even when they actually have the power to change their circumstances.
Many people will suffer from learned helplessness at some time in their lives.  One example would be you have a talk with your manager where he or she appears angry at a trivial subject.    You are puzzled by the exchange, feeling there is nothing you can do about it.  Learned helplessness can occur in far more serious situations.  A study shows that most people in a disaster situation will do nothing until instructed to do so.  A person can learn to be helpless through the observation of another person encountering uncontrollable events even if the observer has not countered it themselves.
Learned helplessness can be a minor issue that occasionally keeps you from making decisions confidently.  Or it can be a significant problem that is keeping you from realizing your professional or personal potential.  So how does knowing about learned helplessness assist you?  The answer is found in the concept of your Explanatory style.  We will explore this concept in a future entry.

You can read about someone’s experience with Learned Helplessness by clicking here and visiting their blog.

This post was authored by Danny McCracken, a guide and trainer for Ascent Adventure Consultants.