What Is Self-imposed Helplessness?

Self-imposed helplessness is a response to passivity and submission to unpleasant situations. People suffering from this condition do not intend to eradicate the stimuli that cause them discomfort or difficulty.

Usually, the condition occurs after a traumatic experience in which wrong decisions were involved to avoid suffering. Thus, the individual believes that he can do nothing useful to avoid painful situations.

What is self-imposed helplessness?

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), self-imposed helplessness is a phenomenon that has its origins in repeated exposure to stressors. These stressors are uncontrollable and prevent people from using the options they have to control adverse events.

Because of this, people come to believe that they lack control over what happens, that is, environmental processes. In the medium term, this belief destroys their motivation to make changes.

In other words, self-imposed helplessness is a psychological condition that leads to an inability to react to situations that cause suffering. This appears as a consequence of the execution of failed actions in the face of unpleasant events in the past. Therefore, people learn to tolerate suffering and believe that they can do nothing to avoid unpleasant stimuli.

Causes of self-imposed helplessness

All the causes of self-imposed helplessness are related to a prejudice that leads people to believe that they have no control over the events of life. This contributes to a lack of analysis of the possible consequences of certain situations. They believe that their fate is already defined and that they can do nothing to change it.

The following are the most common causes of this condition.

The education that children receive is another factor that influences the development of this condition. If there are certain situations that encourage social roles of passivity and dependence, then the chances of developing the helplessness imposed in the future increase.

Messages received during childhood play an important role in adopting inaction. For example, if little ones grow up around people who constantly tell them they are incapable or don’t know certain things, then they can evolve into adults who think they are powerless.

There are also internal factors, such as responsibility or guilt, that influence the development of self-imposed helplessness. The person in question feels guilty about an unpleasant event and begins to believe that he cannot change or stop any situation that may arise in the future.

In this way, he falls into resignation and justification of attitudes, which negatively affects his self-esteem and dignity. This may be related to the type of education he received, which may cultivate guilt.

Self-imposed helplessness: consequences

Self-imposed helplessness has a negative effect on the following dimensions:

• Sphere and

Treatments for self-imposed helplessness

An acquired problem

As its name suggests, this condition is learned, acquired. In other words, it is not something that a person is born with and generally has its origins in childhood. Moreover, this condition involves a series of negative effects that are detrimental to well-being, sometimes in a severe way. Therefore, it must be treated.

The best treatment is psychological therapy, which helps the individual to discover that he has great control over his life. Once he gains this awareness, he will experience positive changes at all levels: emotional, physical and cognitive.