Learned Helplessness in Dogs: Causes, Treatment, and Overcoming the Condition
Dogs, as social animals, thrive on companionship and interaction with people. Their sadness when left alone and elation upon their owner's return highlight their strong desire to be around their human companions. This inherent social need can, paradoxically, contribute to depressive behaviors in dogs, particularly when they experience situations that lead to learned helplessness. Understanding this phenomenon is crucial for dog owners to ensure their pets' well-being.
What Is Learned Helplessness?
Learned helplessness is a psychological concept that describes the state of giving up when an individual believes they have no control over their situation or future. It arises when someone is repeatedly exposed to aversive or inescapable situations, leading them to believe that their actions have no impact on the outcome. As a result, they cease trying to change their circumstances, even when opportunities for escape or improvement become available.
The concept of learned helplessness was first discovered by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier during experiments with dogs. In their study, dogs were initially subjected to inescapable electric shocks. Later, these dogs were placed in a shuttlebox with a low fence separating two compartments, one of which had an electrified floor. Surprisingly, instead of jumping over the fence to escape the shock, many dogs simply laid down and endured it. This behavior demonstrated that they had learned that their actions were futile in avoiding the shocks and had therefore given up trying to escape.
Learned Helplessness in Dogs: The Experiment by Seligman and Maier
In an experiment (1967) done by Seligman and Maier, the two researchers studied a group of dogs. Three groups of dogs were placed in a hammock. In the first group, the shock discontinued if they pressed a panel with their noses. In the second group of dogs, the shock could not be turned off, giving them inescapable shock. The third group of dogs had no shock administered. The animals were then tested in a shuttlebox escape. 90% of the animals in the first group or third group learned how to escape with ease. Two thirds of the animals from the second group, those who were administered the shock constantly, were unable to escape. The dogs of the second group learned there was not a way of controlling or stopping the shock in the hammock, therefore carrying the learned helplessness response onto the shuttlebox (Maier & Seligman, 2016).
Maier and Seligman (2016) continue to explain more research done on animals, rodents who were in a group of inescapable shock showed a wide range of behavioral changes such as, “reduced aggression, reduced social dominance, reduced food and water intake… slowed fear extinction, neophobia, and anxious behaviors on measures such as juvenile social exploration,” (Maier & Seligman, 2016).
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Examples of Learned Helplessness
While learned helplessness was initially observed in dogs, it is also a relevant concept in understanding human behavior. Consider these examples:
- Academic Struggles: Johnny has been struggling in his biology class all year. He’s failed all of his tests and quizzes, even after studying the material for weeks. He decides to give tutoring a shot but doesn’t succeed in making any improvements. Soon enough, he concludes that there’s nothing he can do to improve his performance-he feels helpless.
- Abusive Relationships: Jasmine and Colton have been dating for two years now. Their relationship developed slowly, but they eventually reached a place of deep love and trust. Just recently, however, Colton has been physically and mentally abusive. He pushes Jasmine around, calls her names, and gets mad at her for everything. Worst of all, he’s made her believe she deserves it. Jasmine wholeheartedly believes that she’s the one in the wrong. While she used to fight back, she eventually accepted that nothing she did would help her out of the situation.
The Impact of Learned Helplessness
As you can see above, learned helplessness can have some pretty serious effects on our lives-effects that, of course, relate back to our mental health. In Jasmine’s case, she’s accepted an abusive environment, which will have a profound impact on her overall wellbeing: her mental as well as emotional and physical state. In other cases, learned helplessness often contributes to increased anxiety and depression. This is especially dangerous for these individuals, as they may more easily accept their symptoms as unavoidable and untreatable. If you are in a situation, in which you’re experiencing learned helplessness, it’s important that you seek help as soon as possible.
Following extensive research on the topic Seligman studied the possibility of learned helplessness as a model of clinical depression in humans. Combining animal and human experimental results, eight of the nine symptoms listed in the third and fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders were presented in learned helplessness (Maier & Seligman, 2016). Symptoms and neurological changes due to learned helplessness are similar to those found in anxiety and depression.
Learned Helplessness in Childhood
Learned helplessness often originates in childhood, and unreliable or unresponsive caregivers can contribute to these feelings. This learned helplessness can begin very early in life. When children need help but no one comes to their aid, they may be left feeling that nothing they do will change their situation. Learned helplessness can also result in anxiety, depression, or both.9 When kids feel that they’ve had no control over the past events of their lives, they gain the expectation that future events will be just as uncontrollable. Since nothing they do seems to make any difference, they will stop trying and their grades may suffer even more. Such problems can also affect other areas of the child’s life.
Overcoming Learned Helplessness
Although some may feel as if helplessness is a permanent condition, learned helplessness can be overcome.
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Positive Psychology Interventions
After the year 2000 Seligman began to work on positive psychology and prospection. He focused on the causes and consequences of positive events, mental stimulations, and evaluations of the past and present (Maier & Seligman, 2016). Positive psychological interventions aim to increase positive feelings, behaviors, or cognitions; these interventions must also increase well-being in the long term (Schueller & Parks, 2014). Schueller and Parks (2014) continue to state that a positive psychology intervention can only fall under this category if there is empirical evidence that the intervention increases positive feelings, behaviors, and/ or cognitions.
There are several positive psychology interventions discussed by Schueller and Parks (2014); savoring, gratitude, kindness, promoting positive relationship process, and creating meaning. Savoring is the act of focused awareness and elaboration on pleasurable experiences. Schueller and Parks (2014) state, “Individuals who engage in savoring more often have higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, perceived control, and lower levels of depression.” It is also noted that participants that completed a savoring intervention, in which they kept a savoring log, had a significant reduction in negative emotions. (Schueller & Parks, 2014). Learned helplessness comes from loss of control, using savoring as a way to develop perceived control may help individuals who find themselves feeling helpless on a regular basis.
Gratitude encompasses an emotional response, while acknowledging an outside force is responsible for good events that happen to an individual. An increase in well-being and positive emotions, reduced depressive symptoms, and improved health have been results of grateful reflection and gratitude motivated articles (Schuller & Parks, 2014). Kindness is the act of treating others in a positive manner. Those participating in kind acts for others tend to be happier. Engaging in kind acts towards others creates a loop of positive feedback (Schuller & Parks, 2014). Individuals prone to learned helplessness would develop a new appreciation for daily events after engaging in acts of kindness and gratitude on a regular basis. Constantly engaging their mind in positive events and acts would help create a habit of happiness rather than feelings of not having control.
Promoting positive relationship process refers to developing meaningful social relationships and improving the quality of relationships with individuals around oneself. Schuller and Parks (2014) discuss an intervention in which a spouse gave the other active-constructive responses when being approached with good news. Responding in a positive and engaging manner is said to intensify and help savor the experience that is talked about, thus promoting a more positive attitude and sense of appreciation. Creating meaning in one’s life through appreciation of others, items, events, or goals has been consistently found to predict well-being, happiness, and life satisfaction (Schuller & Parks, 2014). Mentioning the cognitive change theory, Schueller and Parks (2014) explain that when people write about past trauma, expressing and describing facts and emotions that were experienced, fewer visits are made to the doctor in the following weeks. Using this method while going through learned helplessness may help individuals process and further understand the situation causing the helpless feelings.
Bibliotherapy
Bibliotherapy is the use of reading materials focused on cognitive and/or behavioral therapy. This therapy can be done individually or with a group. Exercises designed to help an individual overcome feelings associated with depression are often found in the books used for therapy. A meta-analysis (2016) done by Gregory, Schwer, Lee, and Wise explains the benefits of bibliotherapy. Benefits include high accessibility to a wide variety of individuals, and an immediate, inexpensive and noninvasive treatment. The authors continue to explain the individuals may feel as if they are in control over their treatment and condition (Gregory, Schwer, Lee, & Wise, 2016). Bibliotherapy is important in that it helps the individual using the style of therapy to read through and process the emotions and events that may have caused their depressive, helpless state of mind.
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Jamison and Scogin (1995) state, “Several studies have found cognitive bibliotherapy to be an effective treatment for depression with older adult samples.” The researchers conducted a study in which participants read a self-help book called Feeling Good by David Burns. The participants were requested to read the book within four weeks, following treatment there were three follow up sessions. The results of the study suggest it was an effective treatment with statistically and clinically significant results. It is noted three months following the treatment, the experimental group maintained their results (Jamison & Scogin, 1995). Although this study focuses on depression, as mentioned previously, this style of therapy would be beneficial for those who struggle with learned helplessness. The readings and exercises would allow individuals to understand their thought process and begin to develop new ways of thinking.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy usually includes the individual seeking help and the therapist. Individuals are taught problem solving skills, crisis response plans, and also role play in situations that may hinder them, such as being assertive (Maier & Seligman, 2016). Maier and Seligman (2016) explain the same neurological pathways that are hindered in individuals who experience learned helplessness are also altered through cognitive behavioral therapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is future oriented and focused on issues that arise within the individual seeking treatment. These practices are crucial in developing a mindset of hope and understanding rather than helplessness. The goal of CBT is to help patients identify negative thought patterns that contribute to feelings of learned helplessness and then replace these thoughts with more optimistic and rational thoughts.
Learned Helplessness: A Permanent Condition?
Sergeant and Mongrain (2011) ask if positive psychology exercises are helpful for people with depressive personality styles. Participants of this study were randomly assigned to either a gratitude exercise condition, music condition in which they listened to uplifting songs, or an early memories condition which they recalled and wrote about memories. There were no significant effects found on depressive symptoms or self-esteem reports to any of the three conditions (Sergeant & Mongrain, 2011). The authors stated the active conditions, the gratitude condition and early memories condition, had a negative impact on needy individuals. This is important to note because the vast majority of studies over positive psychology have shown improvements or no change rather than a negative change (Sergeant & Mongrain, 2011). The results of this study emphasize individuals have unique needs to be met. It may be that the reflective conditions had a reverse effect on the needy individuals causing them to focus on negative events rather than positive events.
In 2013, researchers Ulusoy and Duy completed a study over a psycho-education program focused on learned helplessness and irrational beliefs. The participants of this study were eight graders of an elementary school, one group was administered the psycho-education program while the other group was given information over adolescence. The researchers intended on lessening irrational beliefs and changing attributional styles of the participants. The program was effective in lessening irrational beliefs but did not have an effect on learned helplessness of the students (Ulusoy & Duy, 2013). The authors note the program focused heavily on optimism and combatting irrational beliefs. This study indicated optimism and combating irrational beliefs did not have a significant effect on learned helplessness.
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