Childhood Overindulgence Can Lead to Learned Helplessness [Experts Reveal]

Experts reveal that overindulgence can lead to learned helplessness.

Dr. David J Bredehoft shared in an article in Psychology Today how overindulgence can cause children to be helpless.

Unconsciously, parents teach their children helplessness when they practice overindulgence or doing everything for their children.

It is either because they do not want to make their children feel disappointed or because they no longer want to go through the hassle of teaching their children.

Whatever the reason may be, experts say that overindulgence can lead to learned helplessness.

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What is learned helplessness?

In the 1960s the principle of learned helplessness was introduced by Martin Seligman and Steven Maier. This principle was first observed in research among dogs.

In the study, researchers found that after conditioning, the dogs learned to become helpless in the sense that the dogs which had harness no longer tried to escape the fence even when they are no longer suspended with a harness.

The other group of dogs, which were not restrained by any harness since the beginning quickly learned how to escape the fence.

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Learned helplessness among children

In humans, learned helplessness is when a person no longer tries to change their circumstance even when they can already change it. 

According to Psychology Today, "Learned helplessness is associated with depression in adults, depression, and lower achievement in children, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder."

What is childhood overindulgence?

It is undeniable that parents only want the best for their children. Especially when the kids are still young, parents tend to help their children so that they can achieve or attain whatever it is that they want.

Dr. David J Bredehoft says that there are three types of childhood overindulgence:

• Too much
• soft structure
• over nurture.

When parents over nurture their children, they tend to become helpless.

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How can overindulgence lead to learned helplessness?

According to the article by Dr. David J Bredehoft, one of the ways parents' overindulgence cause learned helplessness is when they do not require their children to do household chores.

Because parents do all the chores, they over-function for their children. That leads to the children thinking that they no longer need to do anything to contribute to the family's well-being.

When parents start to do things for their children, they no longer get the chance to learn the skills that they have to. Instead of being able to explore how to accomplish a task or at least think of ways on how to solve a problem, over-nurtured children are given the solution straight ahead. Their parents solve the problems, or they offer an easier way out of troubles.

Eventually, these kids become helpless and they grow up having lesser skills and start to feel hopeless as well.

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