Viktor Frankl, the father of the psychological theory of existentialism and author of "Man's Search for Meaning" believed that most psychological issues were the result of the lack of meaning. Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist in Vienna who survived Auschwitz. While in Auschwitz he questioned what made the difference in those who survived and those who did not - other than random chance events. His answer was "meaning". He found that prisoners who found a meaning and a purpose to their suffering were better able to endure the hardships of the camps and had a better chance of surviving. After the war, Frankl continued to develop this theory and created "Logotherapy".
Frankl viewed depression as "tension between what the person is and what he ought to be." The person's goals seem unreachable to him, and he loses a sense of his own future. Over time, he becomes disgusted at himself and projects that disgust onto others or even humanity in general. The ever-present gap between what is and what should be becomes a "gaping abyss."
Frankl also developed the metaphor of the "existential vacuum". If meaning is what we need to feel content, then the lack of meaning creates a hole or a vacuum. Since nature abhors a vacuum, other things rush in to fill the void: sex, food, television, shopping, acquiring power, acquiring things (like a new car, a bigger house, or the latest, greatest gadget), drug use, etc. Frankl cited the boredom that many in our society feel as evidence of this vacuum. This is most evident when watching people with free time. Many have no idea what to do with it and waste a lot of their lives sitting numbly in front of the television or downing a "couple of beers" to pass the time.
But none of this will fulfill us because it has no meaning. Observe people who have meaning in their lives. Are they depressed? Are they anxious? Are they bored?
Written on Friday, March 14, 2008 by Kellen
Depression and Existentialism
Filed Under:
depression,
existentialism
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2 Responses to "Depression and Existentialism"
Two psychologists ago, I had a doctor who had me read "Man's Search for Meaning". I found it to be quite depressing and leaving the end lesson as "go with the flow, surrender any hopes, accept what comes your way, and hope you don't get shot or gassed because life is so capricious and random". He cites how many opportunities he passed on to change his condition and how others who took the same opportunities ended up being gassed or shot. It might not be surprising that the doctor who prescribed this book to me led me into a failed suicide attempt that cost me my job.
With a closer and deeper examination of the Frankl book there might be redeeming qualities I missed. But having read it in two days of straight reading, this is a book I'd only recommend to people I hate and loathe and would like to see take their own lives.
Randy
March 15, 2008 at 9:00 AM
Hmmm, I can see how you could have gotten that out of it initially. I'm glad you posted this because others may have taken away the same thing. I know the parts you are talking about and understand your viewpoint completely.
I guess what I remember is the story of the manuscript in his pocket and how he was determined to complete this manuscript in spite of the camp. That became his "mission" and kept him going. I also remember that he was a student of psychology and that he decided to use the camp as a study of human behavior (which he did). In other words, he would not allow the Nazis to take away what he was, he would continue to practice psychology, even in the camp. What I took away from it was that the people in the camps who had something to live for, whether it was their family, their identity, a manuscript, or whatever, were better able to survive the ordeal. I've seen this in working with people facing difficulties. If they can find some meaning in their suffering (I'll be a better parent, I'll be a better writer, I'll be a better partner, I'll be a better therapist - for having lived through this) they are better able to withstand the situation and come out on the other side stronger and wiser. The use the ordeal to grow.
I know that when I have something bigger than myself to work on getting up in the morning is much easier. When it's just me against the world, I end up sitting around, wasting time, then feeling depressed because I wasted yet another day, etc. I always feel better when I'm "on a mission".
It sounds like the difference in perspectives between internal and external locus of control which a big factor in depression.
Some people have an external locus of control. They perceive that things happen to them which are out of their control, things which they are unable to influence or change in any way. They perceive themselves as victims of their environment or situation.
(Allow me to be perfectly clear here. When someone has a gun to your head and demands your car, that IS out of your control and not a matter of perspective. I'm referring to normal, everyday events when I talk about this, not the extraordinary exceptions.)
Other people tend to see the world as a place in which what happens to them is affected by their actions and their choices. Obviously, the burden of responsibility here is great, but so are the benefits.
Research has repeatedly shown that people with an external locus of control feel more depressed, more helpless, and more hopeless. They are less likely to do things which might make them feel better and less likely to take the initiative to change.
People with an internal locus of control usually have a better outlook on life. They are often more successful at other things as well, like starting a weight loss program, or a workout program, or making a career change. Because of their perception that their choices and behavior influence the situation, they feel empowered to change things.
With that said, there are times when it is advantageous to go with the flow. Someone once said, the important thing is to know when to float with the current and when to fight like mad to swim to the shore. But even the choice to float is a choice and still falls into the category of internal locus of control.
I see this in Frankl's decision not to decide. He believed that he could affect the outcome of the situation by his actions. He watched people fight mightily to get into the other or into the other line believing it improved their chances of survival. However, it was Frankl's observation that the truck or line they fought so hard to get into was often the one going to the ovens. He therefore made the choice not to choose, because in his assessment of the situation that increased his odds. Now whether that assessment was right or wrong is neither here or there. Who can say? But that fact that he believed he had a choice allowed him to keep his wits about him and survive the ordeal. As he described, many just gave up and literally laid down and died.
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