Learned helplessness was first demonstrated in research that found that some dogs that were strapped into a harness and exposed to painful electric shocks became passive and gave up trying to escape from the shock, even in new situations in which the harness had been removed and escape was therefore possible.
Similarly, some people who were exposed to bursts of noise later failed to stop the noise when they were actually able to do so. Those who experience learned helplessness do not feel that they have any control over their own outcomes and are more likely to have a variety of negative health outcomes, including anxiety and depression.
Learned helplessness is transsituational and transstimulus.
The DRN (Dorsal Raphe Nucleus) is activated by uncontrollable stressors and when hyperactivated releases serotonin broadly to areas like the amygdala, striatum, hippocampus — this causes behavioral shutdown: passivity, anxiety, freezing. This causes learned helplessness.
The mPFC (Medial Prefrontal Cortex) is the executive control region — it evaluates context, learns rules, predicts outcomes, and can regulate lower brain areas. The ventromedial PFC (vmPFC, especially prelimbic area in rodents) can inhibit the DRN via GABAergic interneurons in the DRN or via intermediary relay regions.
the mPFC becomes active → it inhibits the DRN → no learned helplessness.
the mPFC is not activated because there’s no control → DRN is disinhibited → serotonin flood → passive behavior.
To activate mPFC, one must attempt to exert some degree of control even if you believe, it’s not worth trying.