I do not know how much it contradicts the rules of this group, but I will take a chance!
If the moderators consider this publication inappropriate, then let them just delete it!
Readers who will see themselves from the outside through this article, then let them share their comments here!
The fact is that yesterday in a Russian-speaking group on FB about oncology, I read a publication by a woman unknown to me named Elizaveta Musatova and wanted to share it with you.
When translating the text, I had to work a little on the Russian turns of speech so that they would be understandable to the English-speaking reader.. And I think I managed to explain that when Russian people say "students have turned sour" - it does not mean that they are rotten, but it just means that these students have lost their ability to work!))
And sorry for the many emails! Only five pages of typewritten text and not about oncology at all at first glance, but definitely about something very important that we all forgot a little bit about:
«Fifty years ago, the American psychologist Martin Seligman turned all ideas about our free will upside down.
Seligman conducted an experiment on dogs according to the scheme of Pavlov's conditioned reflex. The goal is to form a fear reflex to the sound of a signal. If a Russian scientist's animals received meat on a call, then the dogs of an American colleague received an electric shock. To prevent the dogs from escaping ahead of time, they were fixed in a special harness.
Seligman was sure that when the animals were transferred to an aviary with a low partition, they would run away as soon as they heard the signal. After all, a living being will do anything to avoid pain, won't it? But in the new cage, the dogs were sitting on the floor and whining.
Not a single dog jumped over the easiest obstacle — did not even try. When a dog that did not participate in the experiment was placed in the same conditions, it easily escaped.
Seligman concluded that when it is impossible to control or influence unpleasant events, a strong feeling of helplessness develops. In 1976, the scientist received the American Psychological Association Award for the discovery of learned helplessness.
AND WHAT ABOUT PEOPLE?
Seligman's theory has been tested many times by scientists from different countries. It is proved that if a person systematically:
- feels defeated, despite all efforts;
- experiences difficult situations in which his actions do not affect anything;
- he finds himself in the midst of chaos, where the rules are constantly changing and any movement can lead to punishment — his will and desire to do anything atrophy.
Apathy comes, followed by depression. The man gives up. Learned helplessness sounds like Mary the Artful from an old movie: "What is freedom to us, what is bondage to us — we don't care now."
The theory of learned helplessness is confirmed by life. It is not necessary to sit on a leash and receive electric shocks. Everything may turn out to be more prosaic. When I wrote this article, I asked my Facebook friends to share their experience of experiencing learned helplessness. They told me:
- about unsuccessful attempts to get a job: refusal after refusal without explanation,
- about a husband who could meet in the evening with expensive gifts, and could with aggression for no apparent reason, according to the mood. (Next to it is almost the same story about his wife),
- about the boss, a tyrant who handed out fines every month according to some new and illogical criteria.
From the outside it seems that there is a way out. Rewrite your resume! File for divorce! Lean on the boss! Do this and do that! But like Seligman's dog, a man who is driven into helplessness cannot jump even over a low fence. He doesn't believe in a way out. He's lying on the floor and whining.
Sometimes even an abusive partner or a boss-tyrant is not necessary.
Gelya Demina, a student on an internship in Korea, tells how in one lesson the professor gave the class a task:
«From the letters written on paper, you need to add up the names of countries. When the time runs out, the professor asks those who are confident in their answer to raise their hands. And so again and again. By the last task, half of the students had become discouraged.
After we solved all the points, we started checking the answers," says Gelya. - The right side had almost everything right. And the guys on the left didn't have the right answers at all.
The last task (D E W E N S - Sweden) was solved by only two out of ten people on the left side. And then the professor says: "Here's a confirmation of Seligman's hypothesis." Two versions of the test that we had appear on the screen.
While the right group received a completely normal test, the left group had one letter mixed up in all the tasks. It was impossible to get the right answer in their case! The whole point was in the last question, about Sweden.
It is the same for two teams. Everyone had the opportunity to get the right answer. But over the past five questions, the guys have completely convinced themselves that they will not be able to solve the task. By the time it was the right answer's turn, they just gave up.»
How to resist chaos? What should I do if the learned helplessness is already winning back the inner territory? Is it possible not to give up and not give up apathy?
Yes, you can! And here scientists are at one with life again.
- Remedy No.1: Do something.
Seriously, anything! Psychologist Bruno Bettelheim survived in a concentration camp with a policy of constant chaos. The leadership of the camp, he said, established new prohibitions, often meaningless and contradictory.
The guards put the prisoners in situations where any action could lead to severe punishment. In this mode, people quickly lost their will and broke down.
Bettelheim offered an antidote: to do everything that is not forbidden. Can you go to bed instead of discussing camp rumors? Go to bed! Can you brush your teeth? Clean them!»
Not because you want to sleep or care about hygiene. But because this is how a person returns subjective control over the situation into his own hands.
First, he has a choice: to do this or that.
Secondly, in a situation of choice, he can make a decision and immediately execute it.
What is important is your own, personal decision made on your own. Even a small action becomes a vaccine against turning into a vegetable.
The effectiveness of this method in the 70s was confirmed by Bettelheim's American colleagues. Ellen Langer and Judith Roden conducted an experiment in places where a person is most restricted in freedom: a prison, a nursing home and a homeless shelter.
What did the results show? Prisoners who were allowed to arrange furniture in their cell in their own way and choose TV programs became less susceptible to health problems and outbursts of aggression.
Elderly people who could furnish a room to their liking, get a plant and choose a movie for evening viewing, increased vitality and slowed down the process of memory loss. And homeless people who could choose a bed in a dorm and a lunch menu more often started looking for work — and found it.
The way to cope: do something because you can. Choose what to do with a free hour before going to bed, what to cook for dinner and how to spend the weekend. Rearrange the furniture in the room as you prefer. Find as many control points as possible where you can make your own decision and execute it.
What can it give? Remember about Seligman's dogs? The problem wasn't that they couldn't jump over the barrier. So it is with people: sometimes the problem is not the situation, but the loss of will and faith in the significance of their actions.
The "I do it because I chose to do it" approach allows you to maintain or regain a subjective sense of control. This means that our will does not leave in the direction of the cemetery, covered with a head under a white sheet - but on the contrary, the person continues to move towards a way out of a difficult situation.
- Remedy No.2: Away from helplessness - in small steps.
The ideas about myself "I can't do anything", "I'm worthless", "my attempts won't change anything" are made up of special cases. We, as in the children's game "connect the dots", choose some stories and connect them with one line.
It turns out a belief about yourself. Over time, a person pays more and more attention to the experience that confirms this belief. And stops seeing exceptions.
The good news is that beliefs about yourself can be changed in the same way. This is done, for example, narrative therapy: together with a helping practitioner, a person learns to see alternative stories, which eventually combines into a new representation.
Where there used to be a story about helplessness, you can find another one: a story about your value and importance, about the significance of your actions, about the possibility of influencing what is happening.
It is important to find special cases in the past: when did I succeed? when was I able to influence something? when did you change the situation by your actions?
It is also important to pay attention to the present — here small achievable goals will help. For example, to clean up the kitchen cabinet or make an important call that you have been putting off for a long time.
There are no goals too small — every goal is important! Did you manage? Did you succeed? Excellent! You should celebrate this victory! It is known that where attention is, there is energy. The more attention to achievements, the stronger the fuel for a new preferred story. The higher the probability of not giving up.
A way to cope: set small real goals and be sure to celebrate their achievement. Keep a list and reread it at least twice a month. Over time, you will notice that the goals and achievements have become larger. Find an opportunity to reward yourself with some kind of joy for each completed item.
What can it give? Small achievements help to gain resources for larger-scale actions. Build up self-confidence. String a new experience like beads on a fishing line. Over time, a necklace will turn out of individual parts — a new story about yourself: "I am important", "My actions matter", "I can influence my life".
- Remedy No.3: A different look.
Seligman discovered the problem, and devoted his later life and career to finding a solution. The scientist found out that animals can learn to resist helplessness if they have previous experience of successful actions.
The dogs, who at first could turn off the current by pressing their heads on the panel in the enclosure, continued to look for a way out, even when they were fixed with belts.
In collaboration with renowned psychotherapists, Seligman began to study people's behavior and their reactions to external circumstances.
Twenty years of research led him to the conclusion that the tendency to explain what is happening in one way or another affects whether we are looking for an opportunity to act or give up. People with the belief that "Bad things happen through my fault" are more likely to develop depression and a state of helplessness.
And those who think "Bad things can happen, but it's not always my fault and someday it will stop," cope faster and recover under unfavorable circumstances.
Seligman proposed a scheme for rethinking experience and restructuring perception. It is called the "ABCDE Scheme":
A - Adversity, an unfavorable factor. Remember an unpleasant situation that causes pessimistic thoughts and a feeling of helplessness. It is important to start by choosing situations that you rate no higher than 5 on a scale from 1 to 10: this way the learning experience will be safer.
B - Belief, belief. Write down your interpretation of the event: everything you think about what happened.
C - Consequence, consequences. How did you behave in connection with this event? What did you feel in the process?
D - Disputation, a different view. Write down evidence that questions and refutes your negative beliefs.
E - Energizing, activation. What feelings (and, perhaps, actions) caused new arguments and more optimistic thoughts?
The way to cope: try to refute pessimistic beliefs in writing. Keep a diary to record unpleasant events and work through them according to the ABCDE scheme. Re-read your notes every few days.
What can it give? Stressful situations will always arise. But with time and practice, you can learn to cope with anxiety more effectively, not to give up helplessness and develop your own successful reaction and behavior strategies.
The energy that previously served pessimistic beliefs will be released, and it can be invested in other important areas of life.
P.S. Safety precautions!
I am glad if you are finishing reading this article now, and a desire to act is already being born inside you. Please take care of yourself in further actions. It is important to remember that there is no single solution that will definitely suit each of us.
A person and his life situation are more complicated than the most thoughtful and detailed scheme. Sometimes independent work gives the desired result. And sometimes you need to enlist external support and / or seek help from a specialist.
Please trust your feelings and take care of yourself and your condition.
I believe that in difficult circumstances we can rely on our own strength. Choosing to read this article and try the methods described in it already means that you have faith in change and the possibility of moving to where it is better. The possibility of a good future beyond today's circumstances.
Seligman's dogs had no choice. We have it. Let's choose the will to freedom and jump out of our cage!»
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