How is depression related to learned helplessness?
Learned helplessness, is a condition of a human being or an animal in which it has learned to behave helplessly, even when the opportunity is restored for it to help itself by avoiding an unpleasant or harmful circumstance to which it has been subjected. It is also a model used to explain depression in human beings.
There are three main theories of how depression is caused (Environmental, Cognitive and Biological). According to the cognitive model of depression, depression is caused due to the shaping of our behavior directly by beliefs and thoughts. This theory bases the causes of depression in feeling, emotions and believes. Depressive symptoms result when people's attributions for external events are based on maladaptive beliefs and attitudes.
A direct relationship exists between learned helplessness and depression. Learned helplessness is viewed to be a cause of mental illnesses such as depression derived from the lack of control over the outcome of life situations. The feeling of helplessness will cause for a person to enter in a state of sadness and unwillingness to overcome problems, leading into a loop of depression due to maladaptive attitudes. Learned Helplessness also is a contributor to the cognitive theory because it explains that feelings that come from the state of pessimism will cause for a person to feel depressed, sad and in a continuous state of helplessness. Learned helplessness will also affect a person because it will cause the person to not be able to surpass his problems and to feel in a death end, specially feeling there is nothing the person can do to overcome depression. Finally we can say that learned helplessness is potentially a main cause of depression and it has a direct relation with the cognitive theory due to the fact depression is linked to the feelings and emotions of a person.
