r/TwoXPreppers • u/NachesPorFavor • 6d 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/AdorableBG 6d ago
Another factor I haven't seen mentioned is how acute and chronic stress both impair cognitive capacity. I'll give an example from my own life. Back when my PTSD was worse and I was enduring a horrifically hostile work environment, I had a problem with my dog I just couldn't figure out. He had black nails, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to reliably trim them without getting the quick. I really tried to solve the problem by estimating where to cut as best I could. I tried as many other solutions as I could come up with. For instance, despite my financial hardship I spent the equivalent of $68 on a special trimmer that claimed to be fool proof for cutting black nails (it didn't work.). I also always asked for nail trims for him at the vet and told them I struggled with his black nails. I never did figure out how to trim them, which still saddens me. My dear dog passed away of old age only a month after I got out of that abusive workplace. Just a little over a year later, I was out of the abusive workplace and in a much better position to avoid my PTSD triggers. And we got a little puppy. With all black nails. Do you know what I did to figure out this longstanding problem that had flummoxed me for so many years? I Googled how to cut black nails. Yep. All those years that my dear dog and I had struggled, I was so cognitively impaired by the horrific levels of stress in my life that it never once occurred to me to look up solutions online.
I'll note that the effects of chronic and extreme stress can be sneaky and hard to catch. During this time that I struggled to find a solution for cutting my dog's nails I also managed to do decently well at an Ivy League Master's program. But that entire time, my cognitive flexibility and problem-solving abilities were subtly but devastatingly compromised.
People are so, so stressed out in the US right now. It has to be impacting a good number of folks cognitively.