Martin Seligman developed the theory further, finding learned helplessness to be a psychological condition in which a human being or an animal has learned to act or behave helplessly in a particular situation – usually after experiencing some inability to avoid an adverse situation – even when it actually has the power to change its unpleasant or even harmful circumstance. Seligman saw a similarity with severely depressed patients, and argued that clinical depression and related mental illnesses result in part from a perceived absence of control over the outcome of a situation.

Tags: martin seligman, martin seligmann, Learned helplessness, by martin seligman, dr. martin seligman, martin seligman learned helplessness, martin e. seligman, authentic happiness by martin seligman