Renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl survived the Nazi death camps as a prisoner. His years of suffering, experiences and insights led him to develop logotherapy, a branch of psychology built on the belief that humans are primarily driven by meaning. In this book, he chronicled his camp experiences and how logotherapy can be used to help people overcome anxiety and find happiness and fulfillment in life. In this free Man’s Search for Meaning summary, we’ll briefly outline the physiological journey of a Nazi concentration camp prisoner, and the key ideas/approach behind logotherapy.
In a concentration camp, all meaning and life goals are stripped away. When left with nothing but the skin on their backs, why do some prisoners persevere and survive while others collapse or give up? Viktor Frankl believed that man’s search for meaning is a powerful driving force that allows mankind to overcome extreme odds and achieve extraordinary feats. His experience in the Nazi concentration camps and finding a deeper meaning in suffering inspired him to develop logotherapy.
A Concentration Camp Prisoner’s Psychological Journey
During WWII, Frankl spent 3 years (1942-1945) in Auschwitz and other concentration camps as a prisoner. During this period, he observed that the prisoners went through 3 psychological phases with corresponding symptoms: shock, apathy and depersonalization:
Here’s a quick overview of the 3 phases. Do get a copy of our full 13-page summary for more details.
Phase 1: Admission to Camp => Shock
When the prisoners entered the camps, most of them went into shock, and reacted in ways that indicated abnormal mental health, including (i) delusions of reprieve, (ii) humor, (iii) curiosity, and (iv) a lack of fear. We elaborate on each of these reactions in detail in our complete Man’s Search for Meaning summary.
Phase 2: Routine => Apathy
Navigating difficult circumstances, new prisoners missed their loved ones and felt disgust, horror, and pity at the level of death and suffering. Yet, the initial shock of Phase 1 eventually wore off as the prisoners settled into a routine and transited to their grim new reality. In Phase 2, apathy set in, i.e. they became numb to the physical and psychological pain of the daily beatings and abuse. Learn more in our complete book summary.
Phase 3: Liberation => Depersonalization
After the prisoners were liberated, they entered a 3rd Phase: depersonalization. They felt disconnected from their own bodies, thoughts and feelings, as if they were observing their life from the outside in a dreamlike state. Many liberated prisoners also suffered from a need for vengeance, bitterness and disillusionment. Learn more about the adjustment difficulties in our full summary.
Coping Mechanisms
Despite the camp’s extreme conditions, many prisoners managed to retain their sense of self, find psychological relief and even inner peace. Frankl observed that survival and self-preservation depended much more on mental-emotional strength than physical strength. Specifically, the survivors demonstrated at least 3 sets of key coping mechanisms:
- Rich inner lives. No matter how unbearable our external circumstances are, humans can retreat into an inner psychological space of peace and safety – and create a meaningful life. Prisoners who had rich inner lives coped much better than those who didn’t. This includes humor, appreciation for art and beauty, religious/spiritual beliefs, imagination, and love.
- Goals for the future. As a prisoner in a concentration camp, you have no identity, no possessions, and no idea if/when you’d ever be free. Everyday life basically feels like being stuck in a “provisional existence”. Many prisoners fell into severe depression and committed suicide since they felt they had nothing to live for. Yet, those with future goals somehow found a way to persist. Once you know your “why”, you’ll find the “how”.
- Perception of Choice. Despite the unavoidable suffering in a concentration camp, prisoners still had choices. Prisoners constantly decided if they’d push to survive another day or simply give up. They chose whether to let the camp degrade them to an animal, or stay true to their human values and sense of self. Their daily choices, including how they chose to interpret their terrible experiences and get a deeper sense of meaning from them, defined who they were as a person.
Do get more details on each of these coping mechanisms from our complete 13-page summary.
Logotherapy and Man’s Search for Meaning
What is Logotherapy?
Viktor Frankl’s experience in the concentration camps inspired him to develop logotherapy.
“Logos” stands for “meaning” in Greek, and Logotherapy is a psychological approach that focuses on the meaning of human existence. It’s built on the principle that humans are motivated by meaning. We want to know why we exist, what we’re supposed to do, and that there’s value in our existence.
In our full Man’s Search for Meaning summary, we break down the approach further, including:
- Other related surveys/research and case studies;
- The difference between psychoanalysis and logotherapy;
- How logotherapy helps us to deal with inner conflict, “existential frustration” and nihilism
Basically, instead of treating man’s search for meaning as an illness or focusing on the past, logotherapy focuses on introspection and helping people to define what they want to fulfill in the future. Instead of assuming that human behaviors are pre-determined by biology and external conditioning, logotherapy assumes that mankind is self-determining, i.e. matter what happened in the past, what we decide now will shape what happens next, and thus redefine our existence, who we are and who we’re becoming.
Find The Meaning of Life
There’s no universal definition for the meaning of life. Such such meaning varies from person to person and from moment to moment. It’s just like how there’s no such thing as the best chess move in the world—the “best” move will depend on the specific game, players and their respective strategies and counter-strategies. What truly matters is the meaning of your life right now.
In our complete 13-page summary, we elaborate on:
- How to assess if you’re making a right decision;
- The 3 paths to find meaning in your life and achieve self-actualization;
- Why people in modern societies feel so lost and unhappy, and what can be done about it; and
- How to use Logotherapy to counter anxiety in daily situations.
Fundamentally, you can’t force happiness. Instead of directly searching for happiness, it’s much more effective to search for a reason to be happy. It’s like how you tell a joke to make someone laugh, rather than force him to laugh. By finding meaning in your life, you automatically bring hope, motivation and happiness, actualize your potential and create an upward spiral.
Getting the Most from Man’s Search for Meaning
In this article, we’ve briefly outlined some of the key insights and strategies you can use to achieve desired change. For more examples, details, and actionable tips to apply these strategies, do get our complete book summary bundle which includes an infographic, 13-page text summary, and a 26-minute audio summary.
This book is actually a combination of several of Frankl’s works, including a narrative of his concentration camp experiences, an overview of logotherapy and an elaboration of its philosophy and practices. It includes many detailed narratives, examples and profound insights about life, meaning, logotherapy and its applications. You can purchase the book here for the full details, or check out more resources/details at viktorfrankl.org.
[Find out how to align business profits, passion and purpose in Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness.
Or if you’re a Christian, check out our summary on A Purpose Driven Life to find out how to live your purpose on Earth according to God’s words. You can also read our Drive summary to learn the key ingredients behind human motivation.]
About the Author of Man’s Search for Meaning
Man’s Search For Meaning is written by Viktor Frankl–an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist. He founded logotherapy, a school of psychology, after he survived the Holocaust during WWII. Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. Dr. Frankl was a Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School and Distinguished Professor of Logotherapy at the U.S. International University. He was also a visiting professor and guest lecturer at several universities around the world, the President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy and Honorary Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
Man’s Search for Meaning Quotes
“Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to ‘be happy.’ Once the reason is found, however, one becomes happy automatically.”
“Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire.”
“What matters…is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person’s life at a given moment.”
“When we are no longer able to change a situation…we are challenged to change ourselves.”
“Self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence.”
Click here to download Man’s Search for Meaning summary & infographic
