Learned Helplessness

the application of the theory to current issues (including depression, academic achievement, and physical well-being) are exciting, thought provoking, and highly relevant

• 1. Introduction ; 1.1 The Phenomena of Helplessness and Personal Control ; 1.2 The Theory of Learned Helplessness ; 1.3 Three Uses of "Learned Helplessness" ; 1.4 Learned Helplessness: Inward, Downward, and Outward ; 1.5 Why Learned Helplessness Has Been Controversial ; 1.6 Why Learned Helplessness Has Been Popular ; 2. Learned Helplessness in Animals ; 2.1 Learned Helplessness Theory ; 2.2 The Controversy ; 2.3 Contiguity Versus Contingency ; 2.4 Representation and Expectation ; 2.5 What We Know ; 2.6 What We Don't Know ; 3. The Biology of Learned Helplessness ; 3.1 Norepinephrine ; 3.2 Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid ; 3.3 Endogenous Opiates ; 3.4 Transmitters, Neuromodulators, and Hormones ; 3.5 Corticotrophin Releasing Hormone (CRH) ; 3.6 Issues Omitted ; 3.7 What We Know ; 3.8 What We Don't Know ; 4. Learned Helplessness in People ; 4.1 Criteria of Learned Helplessness ; 4.2 Operationalizing Learned Helplessness in the Laboratory ; 4.3 A Meta-Analysis of Human Helplessness Studies ; 4.4 Other Aspects of Human Helplessness ; 4.5 The Generality of Learned Helplessness Among People ; 4.6 Cognition and Self-Report ; 4.7 Other Explanations ; 4.8 What We Know ; 5. The Attributional Reformulation ; 5.1 Historical Background: Attribution Theory and Theorizing ; 5.2 Causal Explanations and Locus of Control ; 5.3 The Reformulated Learned Helplessness Model ; 5.4 Assessing Explanatory Style ; 5.5 Empirical Studies of Explanatory Style ; 5.6 What We Know ; 5.7 What We Don't Know ; 6. Learned Helplessness and Depression ; 6.1 What Is Depression? ; 6.2 The Reformulation of the Learned Helplessness Model of Depression ; 6.3 Modernity and Depression ; 6.4 Controversies ; 6.5 What We Know ; 6.6 What We Don't Know ; 7. Learned Helplessness and Social Problems ; 7.1 Survey of Applications ; 7.2 What We Know ; 7.3 What We Don't Know ; 8. Learned Helplessness and Physical Health ; 8.1 Some Groundrules ; 8.2 Risk Factors for Illness ; 8.3 Mechanisms ; 8.4 Health and Illness in Animals Versus People ; 8.5 What We Know ; 8.6 What We Don't Know ; 9. Epilogue ; 9.1 A Brief History of Choices ; 9.2 The Importance of Control ; 9.3 Learned Helplessness as a Model of Scientific Dispute and Progress ; 9.5 Optimism Institutes