Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

We are all subject to external forces that can change our lives, whether they’re positive or negative forces.

Prisoners who were less likely to survive found their suffering meaningless, and eventually succumbed to hopelessness-they weren’t convinced they had any reason to try to survive, so they gave up mentally and physically.

The conditions of the camps forced the prisoners to detach from themselves, and it was difficult to repair this even after they were free.ĭespite the horrifying environment, Frankl noticed that the prisoners who were more likely to survive the concentration camps had specific psychological methods of resistance: rich inner lives, future-oriented goals, and discovery of meaning in their suffering. You view yourself from the outside, or feel as if you’re dreaming and not truly present.

During depersonalization, you feel disconnected from your thoughts, your body, and yourself.

After the prisoners were liberated, they experienced depersonalization.This created a protective shell and allowed the prisoners to suffer intensely horrific conditions without losing their minds. Apathy is the deadening of our emotional responses.Once the prisoners became entrenched in camp life, they fell into a state of apathy.Shock manifested as delusions of reprieve, and abnormal reactions to the circumstances, such as humor, morbid curiosity, and lack of fear.When they were admitted into the camps, most of them suffered from shock.He observed that the prisoners went through 3 general psychological phases: Viktor Frankl survived 4 different concentration camps. Part I: Frankl’s time in concentration camps 1-Page Summary 1-Page Book Summary of Man's Search for Meaning

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl