I have been doing research for a friend and I wanted to share what I have been learning. It s all social work related, but it can apply to anyone’s life, just apply it to any situation you can relate to…
Helplessness through Fear
Fear comes in many forms. The reaction of fear is the reaction that we see with a consequence or an outcome that is more times negative than positive. Sometimes fear is a precaution, a good instinct to hold onto, but often we allow that fear to control us more than we control it.
Freezing – Freezing is a common reaction of fear. The freezing reaction varies depending on the shock intensity, duration, and number of times shocked. All which alter with the experience one has with fear. Sensors produce fear (something scares you), this leads to conditioning of intense fear to stimuli present at the time of the shock, you make a mental note of the elements about the situation that caused you fear (smells, pictures, words etc…), the stimuli provoke intense fear as a conditioned response from that point on.
Break the “I-give-up” habit
Two Ways of Looking at Life/Learned Optimism : How to Change Your Mind and Your Life (Vintage)/by Martin E. Seligman, Ph.D.
Learned Optimism
is both profound and practical-and valuable for every phase of life.
These skills can help break up depression, boost your immune system, better develop your potential, and make you happier.
The optimists and the pessimists
: The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do. and are their own fault. The optimists, who are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world, think about misfortune in the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case. The optimists believe defeat is not their fault: Circumstances, bad luck, or other people brought it about. Such people are unfazed by defeat. Confronted by a bad situation, they perceive it as a challenge and try harder.
These two habits of thinking about causes have consequences. pessimists give up more easily and get depressed more often…optimists do much better in school and college, at work and on the playing field. Pessimism however is escapable. Pessimists can in fact learn to be optimists by learning a new set of cognitive skills. Make the choice to look at your setbacks in a new light.
What we learn today:
When an individual expects that nothing she does matters, she will become helpless and thus fail to initiate any action. Successful actions flow from a sense of self-efficacy. Individuals generate and monitor their own actions, reinforce themselves, and correct their unsuccessful actions. Individuals decide among goals and choose the most highly preferred.
