This book I'm reading is absolutely amazing. I spoke of it in my last blog and I just got to the section called "Logotherapy in a Nutshell" and am utterly dumbfounded. Reading this psychologist write about logotherapy was a mind trip back to the days when I was sent to numerous psychologists.
In this section of the book, Frankl recounts a personal experience when a man in the American government came to his office in Vienna to speak with him. The man told him that over the last five years he had gone to a psychiatrist who had convinced him that his dislike over his job was due to a mental problem with his dad as the government creates a type of "father" figure. Frankl pretty much just tells the man that he's unhappy with his job and that's just it and he needs to find a job that satisfies himself. This was, to be said again, a mind trip. I remember the first psychologist I went to (not to be confused with psychiatrist, psychologists are pretty much just counselors, psychiatrists give you pills) and to deal with my "depression" and social anxiety he sent me to a psychiatrist who gave me pills. He tried to tie my problems with my stepdad and my dislike of my stepdad. I eventually stopped going to this psychologist and ended up going to another man at a later point in time. This man sat me down and instead of asking me about my stepdad he pretty much asked me what I wanted out of life. The times I went and saw him we discussed philosophy, existentialism (which logotherapy has roots in), and essential purposes in life. He never once said "oh, you must feel this way because you don't like your stepdad"... in fact, he never said there was anything wrong with me. With his help though, I realized exactly where my interests lay and got a general sense of purpose. Logotherapy is about finding purpose in life... as Frankl quotes Nietzsche "Humans who find a why can survive through any how". Frankl quotes this in his book several times which I enjoy because I'm a fan of Nietzsche and his work. Anyhow... this psychologist I spoke to (the last one I ever went to) kind of opened my eyes to the world around me and helped me realize that I could have an outlet for philosophies. At the time I was seeing him I was in a destructive relationship and I had lost all reason to be me because of this girl... as it happens with every relationship I've been in... I lose reason to be me as the girl does not seem to accept who I am and my self-controlled purpose in life. I feel I have something to work for even if I'm not quite sure what exactly it is... I do have a general idea. Every time I have been driven away from this purpose, I have become depressed and irritable not quite sure if I want to keep going. In this last relationship I got to where I envisioned swerving my car on purpose and smashing into someone else car going 60 miles an hour most likely killing myself. Not because I really wanted to die but because I had lost a why to living. As soon as that relationship ended... my why returned, and I turned into Me again as well as my visions of death stopped. I am utterly convinced that Logotherapy is absolute GENIOUS.
Until next time...
-Hlatus
In this section of the book, Frankl recounts a personal experience when a man in the American government came to his office in Vienna to speak with him. The man told him that over the last five years he had gone to a psychiatrist who had convinced him that his dislike over his job was due to a mental problem with his dad as the government creates a type of "father" figure. Frankl pretty much just tells the man that he's unhappy with his job and that's just it and he needs to find a job that satisfies himself. This was, to be said again, a mind trip. I remember the first psychologist I went to (not to be confused with psychiatrist, psychologists are pretty much just counselors, psychiatrists give you pills) and to deal with my "depression" and social anxiety he sent me to a psychiatrist who gave me pills. He tried to tie my problems with my stepdad and my dislike of my stepdad. I eventually stopped going to this psychologist and ended up going to another man at a later point in time. This man sat me down and instead of asking me about my stepdad he pretty much asked me what I wanted out of life. The times I went and saw him we discussed philosophy, existentialism (which logotherapy has roots in), and essential purposes in life. He never once said "oh, you must feel this way because you don't like your stepdad"... in fact, he never said there was anything wrong with me. With his help though, I realized exactly where my interests lay and got a general sense of purpose. Logotherapy is about finding purpose in life... as Frankl quotes Nietzsche "Humans who find a why can survive through any how". Frankl quotes this in his book several times which I enjoy because I'm a fan of Nietzsche and his work. Anyhow... this psychologist I spoke to (the last one I ever went to) kind of opened my eyes to the world around me and helped me realize that I could have an outlet for philosophies. At the time I was seeing him I was in a destructive relationship and I had lost all reason to be me because of this girl... as it happens with every relationship I've been in... I lose reason to be me as the girl does not seem to accept who I am and my self-controlled purpose in life. I feel I have something to work for even if I'm not quite sure what exactly it is... I do have a general idea. Every time I have been driven away from this purpose, I have become depressed and irritable not quite sure if I want to keep going. In this last relationship I got to where I envisioned swerving my car on purpose and smashing into someone else car going 60 miles an hour most likely killing myself. Not because I really wanted to die but because I had lost a why to living. As soon as that relationship ended... my why returned, and I turned into Me again as well as my visions of death stopped. I am utterly convinced that Logotherapy is absolute GENIOUS.
Until next time...
-Hlatus
user0207231052:
What an awesome concept! As someone with some skepticism about psychology, I'd love to explore this more!!! Thanks for the blog, it's fantastic!!!