Describe the learned helplessness theory of depression. Use this model to explain how a failure or disappointment in life is theorized to lead to depression. Give a specific example of something upsetting that could happen to an individual and the thought process that this model suggests could contribute to the person's subsequent feelings of depression.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Sample Answer: Martin Seligman discovered that dogs and rats have an interesting emotional reaction to events over which they have no control. If rats receive occasional shocks, they can function reasonably well as long as they can cope with the shocks by doing something to avoid them, such as pressing a lever. But if they learn that nothing they do helps them avoid the shocks, they eventually become helpless, give up, and manifest an animal equivalent of depression. Seligman suggests we seem to do the same thing, but only under one important condition: People become anxious and depressed when they decide that they have no control over the stress in their lives. These findings evolved into an important model called the learned helplessness theory of depression. Often overlooked is Seligman's point that anxiety is the first response to a stressful situation. Depression may follow marked hopelessness about coping with the difficult life events. The depressive attributional style is (1) internal, in that the individual attributes negative events to personal failings ("it is all my fault"); (2) stable, in that, even after a particular negative event passes, the attribution that "additional bad things will always be my fault" remains; and (3) global, in that the attributions extend across a variety of issues.An example of an upsetting event is being placed in a nursing home. In a relatively short amount of time, the patient realizes that he or she has lost all control over his or her life, becoming stressed as every decision is made for him or her by family, caregivers, and personnel. The patient feels anxious, afraid, and eventually depressed. Often the feelings of helplessness turn to hopelessness and the person gives up.