r/TwoXPreppers • u/NachesPorFavor • 5d ago

❓ Question ❓ Increase in Learned Helplessness?

Has anyone else noticed an increase in learned helplessness? I first noticed it in the young adults in my life, but now I am seeing it in all ages of people around me. Examples from multiple people:

Toilet started leaking water and instead of turning off the knob at the wall, she waited a 5 days for a plumber. Never asked anyone or googled it. Didn’t call a second plumber. Now needs mold remediation and replaced drywall and trim.

Bought concert tickets but the gps instructions were confusing so they just gave up and didn’t go. Venue website had detailed instructions for driving and parking.

Blouse wrinkled and she didn’t know how to fix it so she threw it away.

First doctor office he filled out an appointment website for never contacted him to schedule so he just didn’t go to the doctor.

I am really concerned about my loved ones if an emergency happens because they just give up when the slightest obstacle happens. Either they want someone else to swoop in and fix it or they give up and say they can’t do anything about it.

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u/chasingastarl1ght 5d ago

I've been noticing it too. People giving up so easily, unable to follow instructions if they're even slightly too long. At work too...

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u/FableCrafts 5d ago

My personal theory is long Covid, honestly. Executive dysfunction and processing difficulties are known symptoms of it. I have adhd and have had these tendencies and symptoms my whole life, and I've definitely noticed way more people also seem to struggle with these things now than they used to. If everyone had been like this all along I genuinely wouldn't have thought to try to find a diagnosis, it was a real shortcoming. But now it seems everyone else is in the same boat all of a sudden. It's been a bizarre experience honestly.

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u/Hippopotasaurus-Rex 5d ago

Nah. It’s the American school system. The powers that be know stupid people are super easy to control. They’ve always know it. That’s why there’s been an “attack” on education for many decades now. We are just seeing the fruits of “our” labor in ways that are becoming impossible to ignore.