The individual has developed the idea that they have no real control over what is going to happen to them in the future. They feel powerless to control their future so they just accept their current situation no matter how unfavorable it happens to be.

The ideas of learned helplessness originate from experiments on animals. Researchers put test subjects in a situation where they were faced with unpleasant stimuli from which they could not escape. Eventually, these animals would just accept their situation. They would stop trying to escape. Later, when researchers added a means of escape, these animals would fail to make use of it. They had learned to be helpless. This same type of learning can also occur in humans if they are frequently put in a negative situation in which they feel powerless.Some individuals who feel powerless in their life may turn to substance abuse as a means to escape this discomfort. In the beginning, they may feel that alcohol and drugs helps them, but in reality their problems are only starting. The situation is described perfectly in the lament of the alcoholic: alcohol gave me wings but then it took away the sky.

There are also those individuals who will develop learned helplessness as a result of their addiction. This occurs because of failed attempts to quit or control their substance abuse. The individual develops the idea that they have no choice but to accept their current situation. There can be any number of reasons for why people fail in a recovery attempt. It never means that they will be always destined to fail. Sometimes, it can just be that the individual had not managed to summon up enoughwillingness, or that they failed to use the right resources. Unless the individual understands this they can begin to feel helpless and just accept their miserable situation.

The combination of learned helplessness and addiction can be highly destructive for the following reasons:

• The individual will feel completely powerless to escape the alcohol or drug abuse.
• The person will accept the misery of addiction as the best they can expect from life.
• The individual may believe that giving up their addiction will just be a waste of time. No matter what they do, they believe their future is going to be bleak.
• Some people believe that they deserve to be addicted.
• The person may expect family and friends to take care of them. They may become completely dependent on other people. This makes life miserable for everyone involved.
• It can mean that the addict is unable to trust those individuals who are trying to help them. They just cannot believe the promises that their life will get better if they give up the substance abuse.
• The individual can become so upset by their feelings of powerlessness that they become depressed. They may even decide that the best solution is to commit suicide.

Learned helplessness is based on three things:
1.    Internal blaming – “It’s me!”
2.    Global distortion – “It’ll affect everything I do!”
3.    Stability generalization – “It will last forever!”

If, like many children, you grew up in an environment where you continually received negative criticism, then you will get to a point where you feel you are not good enough. That you must somehow be a ‘bad’ child and therefore fully deserve to be criticised in such a fashion. As you can imagine, this is incredibly damaging to a child’s sense of self.