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learned helplessness

British  

noun

  1. the act of giving up trying as a result of consistent failure to be rewarded in life, thought to be a cause of depression

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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In a pathetic display of learned helplessness, California business leaders have collaborated in their own abasement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026

Better equipped to mother Boy No. 2 or stricken with learned helplessness from being coddled by an expert on my phone day in and day out?

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

Such learned helplessness would be a serious mistake.

From Slate ● Aug. 15, 2025

Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s documentation of Stalinism strikes the same note: the elimination of a private existence away from politics, with the regime constantly forcing itself upon one’s attention, feeding each individual’s growing atomization and learned helplessness.

From Salon ● May 24, 2025

A local psychologist is finishing a lecture on how to overcome "learned helplessness" and believe you have the power to change your life.

From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2024

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