Learned Helplessness And Mental Disorders

Forget all the stereotypes of mental illness. It has no face. It has no particular victim. Mental illness can affect an individual from any background and the black community is no exception. African Americans sometimes experience even more severe forms of mental health conditions because of unmet needs and barriers to treatment. According to the Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 20 percent more likely to experience serious mental health problems than the general population. That’s why UGA third year Majenneh Sengbe is taking action as the co-founder of her upcoming organization Black Minds Daily.

Learned helplessness is a mental disorder that affects many people in our society. The term learned helplessness was first used by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier in the 1960’s. Dictionary.com defines it as “a mental condition in which one becomes unable to help oneself due to previous failed attempts at controlling one’s life.” This is not a genetic disorder that can be passed down from family members, rather a learned behavior that develops due to environmental factors. Seligman and Maier’s research demonstrates how the condition occurs.

It not easy to determine how many people suffer from mental illness. This is due to the changing definitions of mental illness and problems classifying, diagnosing, and reporting mental disorders. There are social stigmas attached to mental illness, such as being labeled "crazy," being treated as a danger to others, and being denied jobs or health insurance coverage. These negative connotations keep many sufferers from seeking help, and many of those in treatment do not reveal it on surveys. Some patients do not realize that their symptoms are caused by mental disorders. Even though more is being learned about how the brain works a lot of information has still yet to be discovered, thus mental health professionals must continually reevaluate how mental illnesses are defined and diagnosed. The Surgeon General 's report estimated that roughly 20% of the United States population was affected by mental disorders and that 15% use some type of mental health service every year. Community surveys estimate about 30% of the adult population in the United States suffer from mental disorders.

An instance of learned helplessness is Joe’s case study. Joe’s father constantly beat him during his childhood. He never knew what sparked his father’s outbursts. Joe spent most of his childhood waiting for the tidal wave of his father’s rage and knowing there was no way to avoid it. As a result, Joe developed learned

In 1961 Thomas Szasz penned a book by the title The Myth of Mental Illness that would go on to cause quite the stir in the world of psychiatry. In the book, Szasz stated his belief that what most psychiatrists would label as mental illnesses are in fact not illnesses at all, but instead what he would go on to call “problems in living.” This article will take a critical approach at Szasz reasons for his belief in these “problems in living” including an objective outline of his argument, a discussion on the validity of the argument and its’ premises, and finally the strongest objections to the argument. Szasz is an important figure in modern psychiatry and his opinions are very divisive but certainly worth discussing.

Learned helplessness can be observed in both humans and animals, when they have be treated to expect a certain outcome, usually suffering without a way to avoid it. Eventually you’ll stop trying to avoid the pain, even if there is an opportunity to escape it. In “Learned Helplessness: Seligman’s Theory of Depression(+ Cure)” it says, you’re not born with this it’s a learned behavior, experiences that condition you to have no control or believe you have no control over circumstances. This experiment was formed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven Maier. They tested with dogs and their response to electrical shocks. They realized some dogs didn’t attempt to jump over the low barrier. Those who didn’t

A Beautiful Mind illustrates many of the topics relating to psychological disorders. The main character of the film, John Nash, is a brilliant mathematician who suffers from symptoms of Schizophrenia. His symptoms include paranoid delusions, grandiosity, and disturbed perceptions. The disease disrupts his social relationships, his studies, and his work. The more stressful his life becomes the more his mind is not able to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

Adversity; a noun meaning a difficulty or struggle. Growing up with severe anxiety caused numerous social issues, academic stresses, and hardships in all areas of my life. Until my junior year of high school I never realized how unusual my stress level was until I received a prescription for Lexapro, a medicine used to treat depression and anxiety, two mental illnesses I have long struggled with. Although mental illness comes with a stigma that it is just mental, in reality mental illness is uncontrollable. Just admitting to my problem acted a big step in my triumph over mental illness.

I was born and raised in Kingston Jamaica in an area full of crime and less fortunate people. Growing up, I’ve seen a lot of people with undiagnosed mental illnesses. I’ve seen where there were no resources for people who were in need of food and clothes. Because of the poverty in the environment I grew up in, the crime rate was beyond control. Most of my family lived in what they called a tenement yard. A tenement yard in Jamaica is where a group of close relatives lives and share the same yard. I lived in a house in a tenement yard with my mother, stepfather, half-sister and my half-brother. I also have four other half-sisters on my father’s side, two of them were born and raised in Jamaica in a similar environment like the one I was

I enjoyed every bit of this Introduction to Psychology class. I put together many things about myself and my own life that I didn’t notice before. Now that I have been introduced to the realm of psychology I have a much better understanding of the reasons of behavior that is around me every day.

People who suffer from depression may experience learned helplessness, which is a behavioral view. This can be when someone has so much stress that they cannot handle, they stop trying to handle it. When they can no longer handle their stress, they become helpless, which will lead to hopelessness. The cognitive theory is more about the thought process and what one may believe when he or she is suffering from depression. People who are depressed may think that they are worthless if they fail a test, or if they do not make all As for a semester. People who constantly think about negative experiences may develop depression, but also other disorders. Another sign of depression is when someone is always trying to figure out what caused something else to happen. One may say it is their fault the assignment was turned in late and because of that he or she will now fail the class. He or she looks at something happening because of something negative. When someone looks at life in a negative way he or she has a pessimistic view on life; however, having an optimistic view is the opposite. People with the optimistic view may say the professor will give out more than just that assignment and they can make it up.

Here we discuss research of Indian writers SURAJ MAL, UDAY JAIN and K. S. YADAV, which is called “Effects of Prolonged Deprivation on Learned Helplessness”. This study article consists of 8 pages.

Learned helplessness occurs when a person is repeatedly exposed to an aversive stimuli and feels that no matter how much they try to escape; they are not successful. Therefore, they tend to cave in since a sense of being helpless has been developed to escape the situation. Early studies on the idea of learned helplessness occurred accidently since psychologists were initially studying avoidance learning in dogs. These dogs were subject to a few foot shocks and at first would attempt to escape the shock however, these dogs later on stop attempting to escape and would submissively accept the foot shocks. Then these psychologists tried numerous situations to examine this sensation by placing the dogs in different cages where it would be easier

This essay demonstrates my understanding of the psychological theories and concepts which were discussed in lectures as I have applied this knowledge to the case example. I have employed two psychological topics such as the Humanistic perspective of personality and Stress and Coping theory.

Mental illness is a disorder that is considered to be a type of interruption in a person’s emotions, thoughts, or behavior. Mental illness signifies to a wide variety of disorders which can range from mild distress to impairing a person’s ability to function in daily life. Signs and symptoms of mental illness can vary, depending on the particular disorder, circumstances and other factors. Whether a behavior is considered normal or abnormal varies on the person’s situation surrounding their behavior. Throughout history there’ve been three overall beliefs for the causes of mental illness. These three theories are known as supernatural, somatogenic, and psychogenic. Each one of these stands for how one is viewed when seen as having a mental illness.