Free Challenging Depression & Despair: A Medication-Free, Self-Help Programme That Will Change Your Life by Angela Patmore Page B

an anaesthetic and as a painkiller. The fact that the response shuts off the immune system (called ‘auto-immune suppression’) is perhaps no surprise: if you are just about to die, you hardly need an immune system.
    THE STING IN THE TAIL
    The sting in the tail is this: if an animal – or indeed a person – is not facing imminent violent destruction, the helpless response shuts off the immune system anyway . It kills while it calms. Meanwhile all attempts at self-help appear futile, because opiate-like natural substances known as pentapeptides are being released into the nervous system to anaesthetise the inert individual from present pain andfuture action. This is why, in humans, helplessness is likely to increase feelings of pointlessness, desolation and despair.
    There is robust research evidence on the health consequences of resignation from studies of prisoners of war, survivors of concentration camps (describing those who had succumbed) and bereaved spouses. Insurance companies are familiar with the potentially lethal effects on middle-aged men who ‘give up the ghost’ having lost their jobs. Their survival can no longer be guaranteed.
Helplessness – a case study
In my work as a Restart trainer, I often came across jobseekers who had ‘given up’, not only on looking for work but on everything else as well. So I would read them a press clipping to illustrate the potentially lethal consequences of resignation. The article was about 27-year-old Andrew Thomas of Glamorgan, who died after being made redundant. Pathologist Dr David Stock said Mr Thomas appeared to have been ‘a completely healthy young man’ and the cause of his death was ‘unascertainable’. After initial attempts to find work, Mr Thomas had begun getting up late and spending every day watching videos and television. He even gave up getting dressed and would sit all day in his pyjamas. His father Gwilym was reported to have said after the hearing, ‘I believe he lost the will to live.’ 3
    The learned helplessness research may clarify the mystery of what ‘stress’ scientists mistakenly and inaccurately refer to as ‘long-term stress’, which they blame for harming our health. The confusion has led to a great deal of misinformation being given to the public about ‘stress’ arousal and disease links. People are being constantly warned about the fight-or-flight response – a survival mechanism that can save them – and not warned about the opposite response – resignation – that can kill them.
    THE HELPLESS PROFILE
    How does somebody suffering from despair identify this helpless mindset? Here are some of the attributes typical of the helpless personality:

• low self-esteem
 
• poor coping skills
 
• ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude
 
• avoidance of ‘scenes’ or conflict
 
• unwillingness to face problems head on
 
• submission (often with resentment)
 
• escapist calming habits, e.g. alcohol, nicotine, etc.
 
• escapist games-playing, television, DVD-watching, etc.
 
• not fighting back
 
• resigned and apathetic attitude
 
• fatalism (‘what will be will be’).
    Helpless individuals will resort to strategies that avoid confronting problems or threats, preferring to cling to calming ‘painkilling’ habits like tobacco, cannabis, alcohol and comfort-eating, even though they know these to be potentially harmful to their health. The resigned person simply doesn’t care. He or she hears all the time comments from others that they are ‘hopeless’ – and indeed they are. Their fate generally hangs in the balance, or by a seriously disabled spider’s last cobweb. A common phrase used in my classes was I can’t be arsed . The helpless have given up trying to save themselves and turned their back on a threatening situation. This approach to life is not only abject but extremely dangerous.

    HELPLESS THINKING
    Do the following thoughts occur to you? Tick the relevant boxes and score yourself