I keep losing in this game even though I practice for hours. At some point, I just stop trying and accept defeat before it even starts. Is that learned helplessness? Can you tell me more about it and why our brains react that way? I want to understand why I mentally give up.

Oh, I’ve been there! I used to play this online strategy game and no matter how much I practiced, I kept losing. After a while, I’d just log in, see my opponents, and think, “Why bother?” That’s basically learned helplessness—your brain starts expecting failure, so it shuts down effort to avoid disappointment. Reading this signs and symptoms of learned helplessness really clicked for me. Understanding it helped me break the cycle and actually enjoy playing again.