Ray Peat on learned helplessness

January 29, 2026

Learned helplessness in rats and the efficiency of energy use

"Around 1957, psychologists observed that rats can develop learned helplessness: if a rat was held until it stopped struggling, it subsequently died much sooner than a normal rat placed in a barrel of water. They also found that they could 'immunize' their rats against learned helplessness by first allowing them to experience success in a similar situation. Short-term learned helplessness appears to cause something that blocks the efficient use of energy, so the animal very easily dies of exhaustion—that is, it has used up one energy source without mobilizing another."

Nutrition For Women

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

"From an energetic point of view, the estrogen-dominated metabolic state is less efficient than the oxidative state, which is dominated by the thyroid gland and progesterone (or testosterone). The estrogen state—like the state of learned helplessness in rats—is parasympathetic, in the sense that many chemical equilibria have shifted away from the mobilized sympathetic or adrenergic state. For example, the estrogen state lowers blood sugar, whereas the mobilized state conserves glucose by oxidizing fat."

Nutrition For Women

Cholinergic dominance in chronic despair and rheumatoid arthritis

"In a 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 Peats 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 the sensation of pain – and probably also itching. Many types of cancer cells are known to produce substance P."

May 2016 - Ray Peats Newsletter

Metabolic shifts under extreme stress and learned helplessness

"When the organism as a whole is overloaded and the stress physiology transitions into states of learned helplessness™ or shock, its metabolism shifts towards a reductive, pseudohypoxic metabolism in which the nervous system suppresses oxidative metabolism..."

July 2016 - Ray Peats Newsletter

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