I was said that because the experiment of Seligman that gave birth the theory of learned helplessness was an expansion of Pavlov's experiment, hence the word "learned" in the term should be understood as conditioning, not learning in general. So perhaps it's better termed as "conditioned helplessness"?
According to Learning - Wikipedia:
Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences.
It's clear that people with learned/conditioned helplessness acquiring new behaviors, but do they acquire new understanding, knowledge, skills, values, attitudes, and preferences?
Related:
• What is the difference between conditioning and learning?
• How does one escape learned helplessness?
• Are association, conditioning, and symbolic learning the same thing?