The LH horse is essentially 'turned off.' He seems to be uninterested in most things, unmotivated, and generally apathetic. | Photo: iStock

Learn to identify and prevent this negative mental state

Je M’en Fous is a French racehorse whose name didn’t go over well in the U.K. Bothered by the vulgarity of the expression—essentially a rude way of saying “I don’t care,” akin to “I don’t give a damn”—­British racing authorities required the 3-year-old filly’s owners to change the name to something less offensive. For the rest of the 2019 racing season, the bay Thoroughbred has gone by Je M’en Fiche, a similar expression that’s closer to “I don’t give a hoot.”

While it was the expression’s rudeness that upset officials, who seek to keep racing fans happy and spectators engaged, perhaps its meaning heralds a cause. Going by “I don’t care” or “I don’t give a hoot” or “I don’t give a damn,” Je M’en Fiche could be seen as spotlighting a serious, and seriously misunderstood, problem affecting domestic horses around the world.

It’s the problem of learned helplessness—a mental state in which individuals have learned that no matter what they do, they can’t stop or control the bad things that happen to them. They tend to give up the fight, so to speak, and they learn to “not care” about pain or pressure or deprivation or any other negative event, because they can’t reverse it. In a way, those suffering from learned helplessness are saying “there’s no point” or even “je m’en fous