[Viktor Frankl(1905 - 1997)] Even when you feel hopeless, there is still meaning to living. The life and thoughts of the psychiatrist and author of "Man's Search For Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (Japanese Title: Night and Fog)" | Age of the Heart | NHK
Performer.
Lecturer: Kayao Katsuta (Chairman, Japan Logo Therapist Association)
Interviewer: Masatsugu Ono (Author)
1)
How should you think and overcome it when you feel your heart is about to break because of despair? The new series, starting in April, is about an Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of 6 million Jews 80 years ago, and who spent his life insisting that "there is still meaning in life." Follows the life of Viktor Frankl.
Why was Frankl able to affirm his life despite countless hardships, including two and a half years of harrowing experiences in a concentration camp and separation from his beloved family?
We explore his thoughts through a wide range of works and materials and look for clues as to how we can overcome suffering and live with an eye to the broader world in a modern age where conflict and hardship are widespread. [Broadcast once a month from April 2024, 6 episodes in total].
2)
There was a man born a Jew in Vienna, the capital of Austria, who continued to question the meaning of human life despite all kinds of hardships. Viktor Frankl was a psychiatrist. Captured by Nazi Germany at the age of 37, he spent two and a half years in four concentration camps, including Auschwitz.
3)
This book was published in 1946, after the country's opening. Frankl's account of his concentration camp experiences eventually became an international bestseller. It was also read in Japan under "Night and Fog".
The struggle for daily bread, or even survival, was fierce. It was clear that someone else would take his place if someone escaped extermination. To protect yourself, you fought mercilessly against others.
4)
How can people survive when they are plunged into the depths of despair? Frankl himself was imagining his future as a psychiatrist when he was confronted with the reality of the camp, which shattered his hopes.
Frankl would continue to wrestle with this question throughout his life.
Some keywords recur in Frankl's legacy.
5)
"Nevertheless, say yes to life. No matter the difficulty, you can still say yes to life."
This idea originated in Frankl's obsession with why people lived when he was four.
He had once jumped up just before falling asleep and realised that one day he, too, would have to die.
6)
What tormented me, however, was not the fear of death but rather the question of whether the impermanence of life meant that it had no meaning.
People will die eventually, so why should they live?
Eventually, Frankl learned from Freud and Adler, the masters of psychology, and decided to start his psychology.
7)
At the heart of his new psychology was an idea he called "logotherapy".
Logos means 'meaning' in Greek.
Based on his own experience of constantly questioning and worrying about the meaning of life, Frankl sought to work with people in distress through psychotherapy to find the meaning of life.
8)
Why could Frankl say yes to life even in a hopeless situation?
Kayao Katsuta, who lives in Germany, has thought about this about his own life.
With a strong interest in philosophy, he studied at the University of Munich at 24 and started a family in Germany.
At the age of 50, however, she suffered a severe illness and lost her husband.
At this time, she met Frankl, and it was in Frankl's way of thinking that she found light.
9)
It's a book called Psychiatry in the Meaning of Frankl. I've read it a lot, and the pages are starting to fall apart.
Kayao Katsuta, who studied Frankl's thoughts in Germany for 27 years since 2000, became the first Japanese logotherapist.
Frankl said it is essential to have a life-affirming way of thinking and to say yes to life no matter the situation.
10)
We can also affirm ourselves in any situation.
I think it's essential to believe that it's okay to be wrong instead of saying that you're bad enough.
Mr Katsuta, who was active in Germany, now holds seminars in Japan to teach Frankl's logotherapy.
It helps people who have been so severely beaten that they can't get up.
When we listen to Frankl again, we find that the power that can help us in any situation is within our psyche.
11)
I feel like I'm showing a way forward for people with situations they can't easily change, like their illness.
I couldn't help but hate myself. I couldn't accept myself.
Finally, I could accept myself. That was a massive development for me.
12)
This is the theory of logotherapy that Frankl developed in his 20s to find the meaning of life.
This idea was eventually tested at the turning points in Frankl's life, where he experienced a hard life and lost his family.
13)
In Frankl's case, I think there is meaning in suffering for something.
So, if you find meaning in it, your suffering will not be so great.
For example, a university professor came to him for advice.
The man was unfortunate because his wife of many years had passed away.
He was so sad that he wanted to die with her.
14)
At that time, Frankl told the teacher to think about it. What if it were the other way around?
What if you died first, and your wife was left behind?
The teacher said, "I think my wife would have been unfortunate."
Frankl said, "That's right, so if you think about it as if you are now carrying this pain in your wife's place, doesn't your suffering have meaning?"
15)
No matter how desperate or sad they have been, humans can use their self-healing power to heal themselves and live a fulfilled life.
I think what Frankl said is still very relevant today, almost a century later.
NHK's television programme, "The Age of the Heart," explains Viktor Frankl's life and thoughts in six episodes. Frankl tried to find the light and live even amid unbearable suffering.
[Viktor Frankl(1905 - 1997)] Even when you feel hopeless, there is still meaning to living. The life and thoughts of the psychiatrist and author of "Man's Search For Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (Japanese Title: Night and Fog)" | Age of the Heart | NHK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xa6gPFnspA
Man's Search for Meaning (by Viktor E Frankl)
Viktor E Frankl (1905 - 1997) - Wikipedia
[Viktor Frankl Interview 1/2] Beyond "Man's Search For Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy (Japanese Title: Night and Fog)"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5gq7b47cL0
[Viktor Frankl Interview 2/2] Still say yes to life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opm8tvyZLdU&t=457s
The Zone of Interest | Official Trailer HD | A24
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vfg3KkV54
The Zone of Interest (2023) 7.5/10
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7160372/
