Viktor Frankl's Horrifying but Illuminating Psychological Approach as a Holocaust Survivor

 

                    TW: this blog contains information about the Holocaust genocide.

        Victor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist who suffered through the horrors of the Holocaust, notably detailing the mental effects the experience had on prisoners in his manuscript "Man's Search for Meaning."

        Being a Holocaust survivor, Frankl puts great emphasis on his own form of psychotherapy known as logotherapy. While one may think therapy comes purely in the form of psychoanalysis--where a patient sits down and explains what troubles them, sometimes detailing things which are hard to listen to--Frankl explains the method of therapy he adapted after World War II, in which these roles are reversed and a psychotherapist aims to help someone mentally troubled by finding them meaning in life. The approach is based on Frankl's observed presumption (which also has statistical evidence) that humans naturally live to find a purpose in themselves. Frankl's methodology is meant to build optimism, which becomes overwhelmingly clear as the thought process had roots in Holocaust survivors.

       In an environment which led Frankl to watch malnourished men willingly run into barbed wire, and in which imminent death was accepted by many, Frankl says the silver lining was a belief that the suffering wasn't for nothing. For him, it was the memory of his wife, alongside his passion for psychology and publishing a manuscript which kept him motivated; others might have gained motivation from the nature around them, which gave them hope that life could be beautiful once their torture ended. Some even found purpose in comedy, which they used to keep morale up.

        At a certain point, Victor Frankl was even appointed to be a medic at a camp. There, while he himself was sometimes as sick as his patients, Frankl managed to find temporary purpose in helping others. He used both assuring logotherapeutic words and modern medicine together as his treatments. Frankl noted that his longing for purpose became so powerful, that even when he had the ability to escape the camp, he would decide against it, as he couldn't abandon his patients.

        It feels almost insensitive to imply that the technique of keeping sanity in concentration camps is relevant to the current problems someone may go through. However, this is exactly what Victor Frankl's main intention was. Anytime I feel demoralized now, I try to think of the bigger meaning behind momentarily being upset--this sort of mindset has really helped me approach unpleasant situations in a better light.

- Dan