As he lived through the horrors of the death camps, one of the things that enabled him to go on was the desire to recreate that manuscript, and communicate to the world his ideas, as well as the refinements he had found as he went through the death camps.
One of the reasons I loved Frankl's book is that he speaks so directly to human suffering. If the purpose of life is (as Freud says) to get as much pleasure as possible, what happens when we suffer? What possible reason could Freud give a person in a death-camp to go on? Again, if power were our ultimate goal, what hope is there for a prisoner in a death camp?.
I suppose in the gay community, we've pretty much cornered the market on pleasure, at least as far as quick satisfaction goes. But as I look at my life, there is so much pain, and the idea of a one-night stand (or even a long-term relationship) just can't make up for all that. But Frankl says that, when pain seems unavoidable, face it squarely, and find a way to find purpose in it. And that has helped me immensely. I have suffered a lot. If I look at my own comfort, that seems terrible. But it has taught me what suffering is. I can reach out and comfort others who are in pain. I can strive to make a world where the gay babies born tomorrow will not go through the same pain I went through.
Viktor Frankl emerged after World War II as one of the worlds leading psychiatrist. His approach to therapy was unlike anything seen before. Instead of looking into an individuals past as a method of therapy, Frankl felt that if a patient reoriented their meaning of life then they would be able to overcome any type of neurosis. Frankl's methods were less retrospective and less introspective than those of Freud's. Frankl focused "rather on the future, that is to say, on the meanings to be fulfilled by the patient in his future."(P104) Frankl named his new form of therapy "Logotherapy." Logo is the Greek word for meaning.