ABSTRACT
When a loved one dies, survivors typically feel helpless. Death is final and inevitable, and we may become overwhelmed with our lack of power to change our circumstances. Behavioral psychologists have demonstrated the importance of receiving reinforcements for our actions, as we rely on the consequences of our behaviors to dictate whether we continue them. In this way, we assume a level of control over our lives. When we experience a loss, we lose that control. Nothing we do alters reality. This state of ineptitude and frustration is referred to as learned helplessness. Essentially, when we realize that we have no power, we halt our efforts to improve our situation. In its extreme form, this lack of initiative leads to depression, as demonstrated in research with dogs that learned to accept their fates meekly (receiving random electric shocks) rather than try to find a way to help themselves. For young people with a heightened sense of powerlessness prior to a loss, the death may push them into a state of inertia, resulting in apathy, inaction, weakness, and hopelessness.
