Logotherapy: Learnings from the past and relevance in the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The experience of COVID-19 pandemic had been severely stressful for many of us. As the pandemic affected the whole world, many intellectuals described these experiences as stressful as during wartime. Human suffering and uncertainty about recovery or falling victim had been quite similar in both situations. Logotherapy developed by Dr. Viktor Frankl during World War II (WW-II) has the underpinning to search for meaning in such experiences that motivate the person to remain socially connected and look for better prospects in future. The therapy has the bases in the cognitive psychology, spirituality, and philosophy which are quite different from the modern-day practice of psychodynamic and cognitive therapies. The authors reviewed Viktor Frankl's book “Man's search of meaning” in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, and found marked similarities between the human suffering of the current situation and what Frankl has described in his book. In this narrative review, the authors have attempted to compare the situation during WW-II and current pandemic and have commented about the usefulness of practice of logotherapy in the current situation.

Keywords

• covid-19
• pandemic
• psychological distress
• psychotherapy
• viktor frankl
• world war