Image from abc.net.au
We are not lazy. Our cultures are not deficient.
"Have you ever felt very helpless, also had a strong desire to overcome that feeling, but somehow, something has stopped you? No matter how hard you have tried, you have never been able to get out of that helpless mindset?"
The image of those beautiful creatures lined side by side and held in chains is heart-wrenching and analogous to the reality of our relatives from BIPOC communities. (As egalitarian people, we use terms like "we", "us" and "our" instead of "I", "them" and "theirs" because we function as a collective rather than an individual) Historical/Collective/Intergenerational Trauma in BIPOC communities has left the enduring legacy of abuse, oppression, structural racism, violence and economic insecurity. The stress cultivated by those conditions can cultivate a mind state in which an individual feels helpless after enduring repeated stressful events that are out of their control. Learned helplessness is the belief that regardless of the effort, nothing is controllable and nothing can be done to change our circumstances. Often, a picture of an elephant chained to a stake is used to explain the concepts behind LH. The adult elephant is strong enough to break the chains of oppression, but the baby elephant, despite all its efforts, was unable to break-free. The mindset of the elephant creates his current imprisonment.
Learned Helplessness is an under-functioning or mitigation of the stress response system that is highly individualized and can therefore manifest in many different ways depending on a person's environment and experiences. Like other responses to stress and/or trauma, LH is NOT pathology. It is an adaptive response to life's circumstances that can be very subtle and therefore hard to recognize. An individual may exhibit signs of apathy or passivity when faced with adversity. They may also avoid taking risks or making decisions due to fear of failure or lack of confidence in their ability to succeed. Additionally, individuals who have acquired learned helplessness may display signs of decreased motivation and engagement with activities they once enjoyed or found stimulating.
Although Learned Helplessness is associated with trauma in general, we often see this debilitating state as a result of intergenerational trauma and it can often be confused with laziness, indifference or as a cultural deficit. BIPOC communities are resilient and trauma science teaches us that we do have the capacity to heal. Our first step is to empower self-healing communities through facilitating education, decolonization and re-culturalization.
Learn more about Learned Helplessness Here.
Comments (0)