Speaking Fankl-y

Logotherapy is an interested and different concept. I have never heard of it before, which I find a bit odd. I do appreciate its challenging of traditional Freudian psychotherapy, but I do not think logotherapy is the end all be all that Frankl seems to regard it as in his book. He admits that logotherapy can work in conjunction with other treatments but Frankl's writings assert very broad generalizations and seem to me to oversimplify psychological issues.

I do not think that every person has to have a meaning, or find a meaning. If a person comes to the conclusion that life is meaningless, who is Frankl to push his opinion on them? Accepting that life is meaningless does not equal giving up on life or suicide. Like the absurdists, one can believe there is no meaning without wanting to escape life. For some people no meaning is the answer, and that should be okay.

I also do not think that once a person finds their meaning that is necessarily enough. I am not a logotherapist and I do not understand the intricacies of Frankl's methods, but he seems to see finding meaning as the answer to many issues causing a person to seek therapy, including depression. I completely understand why that may be useful for some. But part of what makes Depression such an awful, debilitating disease is that a sufferer can logically understand and see the meaning in life, all the beauty and all the joy, but still be Depressed. One's outlook on life is not always in harmony with their mental state. Frankl seems to be ignoring the biological influences of mental illness.

I really do appreciate and see the merit in logotherapy and Man's Search for Meaning but I feel like we didn't challenge Frankl enough in class so I wanted to take the time to do it here.