How to Induce Learned Helplessness in Friendships

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David McCraney: Learned helplessness is one of the darker aspects of human nature. In this episode, we're going to explore this strange mental phenomenon by speaking with two experts. Each expert explores a different way learned helplessness harms us and each with a different tactic for removing it from our lives. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.

Stuck in a bad situation, even when the prison doors are left wide open, we sometimes refuse to attempt escape. Why is that?

In this episode learn all about the strange phenomenon of learned helplessness and how it keeps people in bad jobs, poor health, terrible relationships, and awful circumstances despite how easy it might be to escape any one of those scenarios with just one more effort. In the episode, you'll learn how to defeat this psychological trap with advice from psychologists Jennifer Welbourne, who studies attributional styles in the workplace, and Kym Bennett who studies the effects of pessimism on health.

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