Animal Models of Subtypes of Depression
Siegfried Kasper, Johan A. den Boer, J. M. Ad Sitsen in Handbook of Depression and Anxiety, 2003
Although assessment of the theoretical rationale of animal models of depression is limited by the paucity of theory, construct validity can also be evaluated at the level of constructs—that is, whether the behavioral phenomena are correctly described. This approach is best exemplified by the extensive experimental analysis of whether learned helplessness is an appropriate term to describe the impairments of escape learning that follow exposure to inescapable electric shock [247]. The term learned helplessness implies that the animals perform poorly because they have learned that their responses are ineffective in controlling their environment [247]. However, inescapable shock has a variety of other, simpler effects, which could also explain many of the behavioral impairments, such as decreased locomotor activity [11,101] and analgesia [151]. In addition, while inescapable shock results in cognitive impairment [115], such behavioral effects arise from impairment at the level of attentional processing rather than helplessness [181]. Thus, there are many reasons to question whether the learned helplessness procedure does in fact produce helplessness.
The agony of reason
David Bain, Michael Brady, Jennifer Corns in Philosophy of Suffering, 2019
This picture gathers support from the observation that suffering and reasons hang together in surprisingly durable ways, even in cases where one might have expected the two to come apart. Thus, for example, it is interesting that those incapable of physical suffering (e.g., pain asymbolics and those with severe leprosy) tend to ignore proposed replacement harm signals (say, ringing bell sounds or flashing lights) unless the intensity of these signals is increased to a point that induces genuine suffering: it would appear that signals that fail to induce suffering just do not compel motivationally/rationally in the way that suffering does (Auvray et al. 2010; Brand and Yancey 1993).2 Or, again, it is interesting that canonical descriptions of learned helplessness (e.g., in clinical depression or as a result of uncontrolled stress) involve both a lack of affect and a lack of motivation (Abramson et al. 1978). In a similar vein, it is interesting that cornered prey animals both freeze (stop being compelled to act) and release pain-masking endogenous opioids (thereby presumably mitigating suffering) just at the time when suffering ceases to be adaptively or motivationally useful (Amit and Galina 1986).3
Learned Helplessness in the Elderly
Diane Gibson in Evaluation and Treatment of the Psychogeriatric Patient, 2013
In several publications, Solomon has hypothesized that the transition from a stress response to a major psychopathologic syndrome in the elderly is dependent upon the development of helplessness during the early phases of coping (Solomon, 1979a; 1981a; 1982a; 1989; in press). This hypothesis was based on the work of Goldfarb, who suggested that loss of mastery and feelings of helplessness were an expected part of the psychodynamics of coping in the elderly (Goldfarb, 1968; 1974). In addition, the belief in one’s helplessness can negatively effect psychiatric, medical, and rehabilitative interventions to the degree that these interventions may be completely unsuccessful. This paper will review the psychodynamics of coping in the elderly. It will define and examine psychological and social factors in the development of learned helplessness. Finally, the clinical treatment ramifications of learned helplessness in the elderly will be discussed.
Neuroethics in the Shadow of a Pandemic
Published in AJOB Neuroscience, 2020
Adina L. Roskies, Ashley Walton
There is significant work in social and developmental neuroscience regarding the effects of loss of control. The phenomenon of learned helplessness has been studied in rats and extended to people (Maier and Seligman 2016); it is more severe in cases of loss of control (Yao et al. 2019). Those who have gotten sick have often reported experiencing severe anxiety; many of those who are vulnerable or who have loved ones sick or at risk have as well. Loss of control, and the feelings of anxiety it provokes, lead to an upsurge in stress hormones (Maier and Seligman 2016). The extended nature of this crisis has led to protracted periods of stress for many, and chronic stress has been shown to have a constellation of negative effects, including neural changes, depression and suicidal ideation, obesity, and immune suppression (McEwen 2017).
Health disparities in orthopedic trauma: a qualitative study examining providers’ perspectives on barriers to care and recovery outcomes
Published in Social Work in Health Care, 2023
Jafar Bakhshaie, Nathan S. Fishbein, Emily Woodworth, Nimesha Liyanage, Terence Penn, A. Rani Elwy, Ana-Maria Vranceanu
Providers identified psychological health as another factor impacting orthopedic trauma outcomes. They discussed the role of comorbid mental illness (e.g., depression and anxiety), substance abuse (e.g., alcohol and drugs), and learned helplessness in poor outcome trajectories (Castillo et al., 2019). Previous research has highlighted the impact of comorbid mental illness and substance abuse on treatment adherence and treatment response of patients with orthopedic conditions for both short- and long-term outcomes. Learned helplessness, defined as a behavioral tendency to avoid situations due to repeated failures and perception of lack of control over the environment, is known to be a strong predictor of poor outcomes across many conditions including orthopedic injury (Matkin & Ring, 2019). To address these issues, Level 1 trauma centers may consider organizing services as an “integrated care model” by having mental health professionals available to consult for patients’ mental health needs (Burgess et al., 2021). Other options include training medical providers on effective methods of communicating about mental health issues and referring patient for appropriate mental health care.
Living with diabetes: An exploratory study of illness representation and medication adherence in Ghana
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2018
Christiana Owiredua, Emmanuel Nii-Boye Quarshie, Prince Atorkey
This could be explained with the learned helplessness theory (Maier & Seligman, 1976) which suggests that individuals who experience severe stressful situations over a period of time in turn learn that nothing can be done about their condition and thus give up trying to deal with the situation. As regard low medication adherence observed in this study, it can be argued that, people who experience negative diabetes consequences over a long period of time tend to adhere less to their prescribed medication plausibly because they tend to subscribe to the false belief that the impact of diabetes on their lives will persist for a lifetime regardless of medication adherence. Also studies exploring illness practices in Ghana among patients living with diabetes have identified that although most patients rate biomedical management as the preferred practice, they are constrained due to the psychosocial impact of the disease, hence driving them to other practices such as cure seeking and medical inaction (Aikins, 2005). Likewise, when patients perceive that taking their medication will alter their state of wellbeing with some form of side effect from the medication that can alter their daily living, the patients are unlikely to continue taking the medication even though medication helps in managing the diagnosed condition (Read, 2012).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Pessimism
- Social Anxiety
- Aversives
- Self-Efficacy
- Mental Disorder
- Yoked Control Design
- Curare
- Explanatory Style
- Attribution