Depression and learned helplessness in man.

Similarity of impairment in naturally occurring depression and laboratory-induced, learned helplessness was demonstrated in college students. Three groups each of depressed and nondepressed students were exposed to escapable, inescapable, or no noise. Then they were tested on a series of 20 patterned anagrams. Depressed no noise subjects were much poorer at solving individual anagrams and seeing the pattern than aondepressed no noise subjects. Inescapable noise produced parallel deficits in nondepressed subjects relative to escapable or no noise, but inescapable noise did not increase impairment in depressed subjects. These findings support the learned helplessness model of depression, which claims that a belief in independence between responding and reinforcement is central to the etiology, symptoms, and cure of reactive depression.