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distracting noises were being played out loud (Hiroto & Seligman, 1975).
In this study it was shown that by merely being given the option to turn off
the distracting sounds, the individuals performed far greater in the mental
tasks than those who did not have the option to turn of the sounds,
demonstrating the effects of feelings of helplessness upon cognitive
function.
Based on these findings, they proposed the learned helplessness theory
which suggests that depression and other related mental illnesses may
arise as a result of a perceived lack of control over adverse life events.
The premise of this theory is that organisms, and more particularly
humans, will form expectations regarding the outcomes of their actions,
and thus when presented with a situation where there is independence
between the outcome and their responses they will succumb to feelings of
helplessness.
An important aspect of learned helplessness relates to attributions, which
describes the factors which an individual blames as having caused an
outcome. The variation among individuals in the way in which they
attribute the causes of an outcomes is a primary factoring in determining
the individual's ability to cope with negative outcomes. The attribution
theory defines the various methods of attribution as internal/external,
global/specific and stable/instable. Internal attribution is when the
individual relates the cause of the outcome to internal factors, as opposed
to external attribution where the factors are external. Individuals who
display symptoms of helplessness are more likely to attribute internal
event, and into other events which they have the capability of escaping.
Feelings of helplessness, pessimism and hopelessness are all primary
symptoms associated with depression, and are all symptoms which seem
to be able to stem from a learned helplessness. In the case of depression
arising from feelings of helplessness, once an individual has the belief that
nothing he/she does can make a difference to the outcome of certain
events, then the individual will show a decrease in "incentive for emitting
active instrumental responses" (Abramson, Alloy & Metalsky, 1989;
Metalsky et al. 1982).
More recent studies provide further positive evidence regarding the
relationship between an individuals' perceived lack of control over certain
events and their levels of stress, and subsequently the onset of depressive
symptoms (Henry, 2005).
In conclusion, learned helplessness seems to be a major contributing
factor in the onset of depressive symptoms within certain individuals,
particularly following an inescapable, stressful life event. The reaction of
an individual following an stressful life experience depends on number of
factors, most importantly the attribution characteristics of the individual.
The evidence suggests that an individual with a negative attribution
characteristics is far more likely to carry their feelings of helplessness
away from the initial event and onto subsequent independent events,
enabling a perceived lack of control which is likely to develop into
depressive symptoms. Therefore the evidence suggests that depression
References
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