# Anyone read Man's Search for Meaning?



## Magneto (Sep 18, 2004)

Has anyone here read Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl?

It is about the psychological states of concentration camp prisoners. It details the moods and states of the prisoners throughout their stay: upon introduction to the camps, after they had become accustomed to the life, and finally upon their release from camp.

Notably, Frankl (who is a psychologist) specifically uses the term "depersonalization" when describing the prisoners following their release from the camps. Their liberation, an event every inmate dreamed of every minute of every day, initially brought no joy - the prisoners had been thrust into the alternate reality of the "real world" and everything seemed strange and foreign to them... dream-like! They had literally lost the ability to feel joy... it was only through time that they began having glimpses and spurts of joy, and could rebuild themselves.

On a side note, many inmates had built up such a grandiose vision of what the "real world" was and of what waited for them upon their release, that they were discontent and angry with this world upon realizing that it didn't meet their expectations. Frankl here notes that inside the camps the men believed they were at the very limit of despair and human suffering, but those who could not find peace after being released realized they were wrong - they had sunk even lower.

A recommended read for anyone on here... the narrative of his life in the camps is only 115 pages or so. The second part of the book talks about his "new" form of therapy, logotherapy.

Magneto


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## JAG (Aug 31, 2004)

Excellent book


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

I was supposed to read it in a world religions class in high school, but I never read it. Luckily there was no test or paper on it. I hear good things.


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