At the panel discussion “Mental Health as a Human Right” organized by FLPP, Professor Žarko Trebješanin emphasized that while neuroses, phobias, and obsessive disorders have long been known and studied in schools, today’s society faces different, completely new forms of mental health conditions.
He highlighted learned helplessness as the foremost among them.
“It is a phenomenon where people, when faced with uncomfortable situations that they cannot control, gradually get used to them, leading to complete apathy and a feeling of helplessness. A person simply learns ‘that they cannot change anything’ and comes to terms with it, becoming passive because it seems they can neither control their own life nor escape the situation,” he stated, noting that even when the barrier is removed, the individual still fails to react because they have grown accustomed to inaction.
“This is a pathological powerlessness that must be corrected through therapy,” Trebješanin stressed.
Connecting this condition to political practice, Pavle Grbović noted that the ruling SNS relies precisely on learned helplessness.
“They buy off citizens through social measures. In this way, our people are ‘taught’ that they are only entitled to what the state gives them, and only as much as someone else has determined,” Grbović argued.
According to Trebješanin, loneliness is another major affliction of the modern era.
“In the US, one in five people suffers from it today. This brings severe consequences because we are designed as social beings with an inherent need for connection. If a person is lonely and isolated, they bear it with immense difficulty, and that state undermines even their physical health. Human contact is of vital importance—not only for quality of life, but for longevity itself,” Trebješanin emphasized.
Professor Čedomir Čupić recalled the teachings of the ancient Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who drew a sharp distinction between solitude (voluntary) and loneliness (socially imposed).
Furthermore, Trebješanin identified depression as a major illness of modern times, as it produces listlessness, a profound sense of futility, and a total loss of drive, desire, motivation, and energy.
“In terms of its impact on health and mortality, depression is currently the second leading illness in the modern world, and according to some medical experts, it will soon take first place,” Žarko Trebješanin warned.
He emphasized that while precise national data is still lacking, healthcare professionals estimate that around 400,000 people in Serbia currently suffer from some form of depression.