helplessness
Helplessness describes a subjective feeling on the one hand, and an objective fact on the other. In its original meaning, the term stands for the absence of help. From this, a state of poverty and lawlessness as well as the resulting feeling of suffering , misery , worry (grief) and unhappiness and - in a hardening of the situation - of need are derived.
Subjective feeling
The individual feeling of helplessness is based on the one hand on social restrictions such as homelessness , unemployment , debts , stress , bullying , on the other hand on external burdens such as family conflicts , grief and loneliness , or physical or mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety , but also paralysis , amputation or pain . Helplessness is first and foremost the feeling of powerlessness not being able to help yourself, but subsequently also not being able to get or accept help .
In his theoretical model, Christopher Kofahl gave the emergence of self-help groups of helplessness a central role. The loss of control in helplessness is based in his model on:
- Dependence on formal social security systems on the one hand and
- Loss of confidence in professional welfare state care on the other hand.
But helplessness is also defined by individual predisposition . The internal attribution of negative events, the feeling of being to blame, leads to decreased self-esteem. Those who have low self-esteem or a pessimistic attribution style live at high risk of falling into depression or anxiety when confronted with uncontrollable events. In 1989, Lyn Yvonne Abramson describes in her theory of hopelessness depression the expectation of helplessness as a motivational symptom and the expectation that a negative event will occur as an emotional symptom. As a helper syndrome called Wolfgang Schmidbauer his model of the helplessness of the workers. The person concerned internalizes the ideal that he is only good if he helps weaker people.
The existential experience of helplessness also plays a key role in the development of psychological trauma . People who are able to maintain a minimum of agency and control in an extreme situation show a better resistance to the serious consequences of trauma than those who are overwhelmed by the experience of their powerlessness.
Objective fact
In the medical sector in Germany, according to the generally applicable definition, helpless is someone who “as a result of health disorders does not only need temporary help [...] to secure his personal existence [...] permanently.” The minimum care requirement for the helpless is assumed to be two hours a day, while those in need of care can be supervised from 45 minutes daily.
In Switzerland, the award of helplessness allowances is clearly regulated in terms of insurance. Helplessness exists when the insured person
- is regularly dependent on the help of third parties in everyday life,
- requires permanent and particularly laborious care because of their infirmity,
- requires constant personal monitoring,
- is only able to maintain social contacts with the help of third parties due to severe sensory damage or severe physical ailments,
- is constantly dependent on practical support.
Jurisprudence
The helplessness is also a legal term that u. a. is used as a standard example in Section 243 Paragraph 1 No. 6 StGB ( particularly serious theft ) and Section 35 Paragraph 1 and 5 BVG . However, this is defined differently by the case law according to legal area.
See also
- Learned helplessness
- support group
- Severely handicapped ID card # Features and characteristics (helpless in terms of the income tax law, not in terms of SGB XII)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.uke.uni-hamburg.de/extern/asp/BApK-Workshop_071013_Kofahl_Selbsthilfeforschung.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ cf. the theories of Abramson , Seligman and Teasdale http://www.wissenschaft-online.de/abo/lexikon/psycho/1595
- ^ Abramson, LY, Alloy, LB & Metalsky, GI: Hopelessness Depression. A Theory-Based Subtype of Depression. Psychological Review, V. 96 (1989), N. 2, 358-372
- ↑ cf. Wolfgang Schmidbauer: The helpless helpers , Rowohlt 1977 and the helper syndrome. Help for helpers , Rowohlt 2007
- ^ Daniel Goleman: Emotional Intelligence . Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. 1st edition. Bantam, New York 1995, ISBN 0-553-09503-X . , P. 204
- ↑ Widder / Cording, Assessment in Neurology, Stuttgart 2007, 49
- ↑ http://upload.sitesystem.ch/B2DBB48B7E/127930B244/3336AC7040.pdf
- ↑ in criminal law: BGH , judgment of October 26, 1984, Az. 3 StR 427/84, full text ; in social law: BSG , judgment of February 12, 2003, Az. B 9 SB 1/02 R.
