I commented on a blog title "What is the 'meaning of life'" but I don't know who wrote it!
Susan Berner
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Second Phase: Relative Apathy
Frankl states in in "Man's Search For Meaning" that the second phase of a man's psychological state in a concentration camp is a sort of emotional death he called the phase of relative apathy. It's like experiencing so many emotions at once at such an extreme level that after a while, it's just too much, so instead a person can't feel anything anymore. On page 23 Frankl writes "The sufferers, the dying and the dead, became such commonplace sights to him (a prisoner) after a few weeks of camp life that they could not move him anymore." I cannot image what it would be like to see so many horrible things, and to go through so much pain that I couldn't even feel sorrow for those who were hurt, or long for my home anymore. I think it is a good thing that Frankl talks about these psychological problems people face in the concentration camps, because in all of the other stories I have heard about the physical problems and had to fill in the emotional and psychological parts for myself. However, the author of this story attacks it form a different angle in order to make people understand just a little more what it was like to be a prisoner in a concentration camp.
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There is a reason that Christ tells us so many times to trust in God and not be afraid, to detach ourselves from the sufferings of this world and cling to Him, and this is surely one of them. It's one thing to live a life of confusion and pain, but apathy is a monster that does not forgive and does not allow any room for love or hope, and I am sure that confusion and chaos are tools of the Devil to twist our minds and nullify them. In apathy, we cannot love God, we cannot love our neighbor, and we cannot love ourselves, for apathy is like a dark, windowless room where you just sit with your head in your hands, thinking nothing and being nothing. Frankl is right-there is a death that is not underground, and it is arguably more frightening.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good point. I noticed while I was reading Frankl that somehow it was the saddest book about the Holocaust that I've ever read. I think that's why. It was so sad to read about the different psychological issues the victims had to go through. Like you said, before I only imagined them, but Frankl made sure he pointed out what was one of the most significant aspects of the holocaust suffering.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said, Hunter. Being stuck in apathy is a very dangerous and unproductive place for a Christian to be. Like Frankl explains, apathy is essentially acknowledging a terrible circumstance and dwelling on the fact that it is terrible. That is what Frankl tries to get us away from. In apathy, nothing is accomplished, nothing is done, nothing is overcome. However, in terrible circumstances consequently lie the potential to overcome or simply endure. Enduring and overcoming are both actions that have a result, acknowledgement is only that.
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