Explain One Example of Learned Helplessness

Learned Helplessness can be seen as a coping mechanism some people employ in order to survive difficult or abusive circumstances.

One example of learned helplessness is that an abused child may eventually learn to remain passive and compliant in the hands of the abuser, since efforts to fight back or escape appear futile. This is because if the child remains calm and passive the anger of the abuser may end faster, because he is not fighting back, which means that he is causing "no pain", he might eventually even get bored. Even if an opportunity to report or escape the abuse arises, many victims of long term abuse decide to remain in the relationship due to learned helplessness.