Seligman argues persuasively that animals suffering from learned helplessness share many psychological features with depressed humans. Such animals have a motivational problem—one of the reasons that they are helpless is that they often do not even attempt a coping response when they are in a new situation. This is quite similar to the depressed person who doesn’t even try the simplest task that would improve her life. “I’m too tired, it seems overwhelming to take on something like that, it’s not going to work anyway….”
