Differentiation of hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness using Erik Erikson's "Roots of virtue"

Hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness have been identified as phenomena of concern to psychiatric nursing practice by an American Nurses' Association (ANA) task force. These concepts, however, have not been clearly distinguished from each other. The resulting lack of clarity decreases the usefulness of nursing diagnoses in directing strategies for intervention. The purpose of this article is to differentiate the phenomena of hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness using Erik Erikson's "Roots of virtue" as a conceptual framework. The relationship between the frustration of early childhood tasks and later adult response patterns is discussed. Clinical examples illustrate that knowledge of childhood issues guides the formulation of therapeutic goals and interventions to address the experience of hopelessness, helplessness, and powerlessness.