Ray Peat on Learned Helplessness

January 29, 2026

Learned helplessness in rats and the efficiency of energy use

"Around 1957, psychologists noticed that a rat can develop learned helplessness: When a rat was held until it stopped struggling, it subsequently died much earlier than a normal rat when placed in a water barrel. They also found that they could 'immunize' their rats against learned helplessness by allowing them to experience success in a similar situation beforehand. Short-term learned helplessness apparently causes something that blocks the efficient use of energy, so the animal dies very easily from exhaustion – meaning it has used up one energy source without mobilizing another."

Nutrition For Women

Metabolic inefficiency in the estrogen-dominant state compared to the oxidative state

"Energetically, the estrogen-dominant metabolic state is less efficient than the oxidative state dominated by thyroid and progesterone (or testosterone). The estrogen state is – like the learned helplessness state in rats – parasympathetic, in the sense that many chemical balances have shifted away from the mobilized sympathetic or adrenergic state. For example, the estrogen state lowers blood sugar, while the mobilized state conserves glucose by oxidizing fat."

Nutrition For Women

Cholinergic dominance in chronic despair and rheumatoid arthritis

"In the state of learned helplessness or chronic despair, the relative dominance of the cholinergic system keeps the body in an inflammatory, hypometabolic state, in which rheumatoid arthritis …"

November 2017 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cholinergic dominance and the pain peptide in cancer

"The cholinergic dominance of the learned helplessness state increases the production of substance P, a small peptide molecule that generates pain sensation – and probably also itching. It is known that many types of cancer cells produce substance P."

May 2016 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

Metabolic shifts under extreme stress and learned helplessness

"When the organism as a whole is overloaded and the stress physiology shifts into states of learned helplessness™ or shock, its metabolism shifts toward a reductive, pseudo-hypoxic metabolism, in which the nervous system suppresses oxidative metabolism …"

July 2016 - Ray Peat's Newsletter

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