Finding Meaning in Suffering

Transcription

1 Finding Meaning in Suffering A parallel between the prisoner and the patient By Hannah Starkey Smith

2 As Dr. Viktor Frankl found in his worst of human conditions, meaning imbues suffering with the ability to grow man spiritually and to shape his attitude towards his existence Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress. -Frankl

3 In a world where suffering is as ubiquitous as life itself, we must acknowledge the effect that such an experience has on our person. This paper seeks to explore the thought that a patient can better endure suffering if it bears personal meaning for him by the opportunity to reevaluate his beliefs, lifestyle, and personal fortitude with a resulting proliferation of inner strength and clarification of ideals for the future There is only one thing that I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings. -Fyodor Dostoyevsky The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity even under the most difficult circumstances to add a deeper meaning to his life. -Frankl

4 He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any HOW Friedrich Nietzsche Those who know how close the connection is between the state of mind of a man his courage and hope, or lack of them and the state of immunity of his body will understand that he sudden loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect -Frankl As patients, as families, and even as doctors, we need to find hope in other ways, more realistic ways, than in the pursuit of elusive and danger-filled cures. In the care of advanced disease, whether cancer or some other determined killer, hope should be redefined -Sherwin Nuland, MD The terminally ill, and Frankls prisoners alike, experience a similar loss of connection to their perceived future, instigating a threat to their ability to be resilient in the present

5 pain vs. suffering As physicians, our ability to write a prescription to alleviate pain does not also inclusively alleviate suffering. This tension creates a condition of existential frustration in the patient that is neither necessarily pathological nor pathogenic.

6 Essence existence essence In adapting Sartre s philosophy of Existentialism to the situation of a patient choosing to find meaning in his suffering, we must look into the way belief translates into action. A patient may believe he is created for some purpose a teacher or banker or lawyer or father, which clearly does not include his disease and so claims this purpose as a structure for his life (Essence preceding existence). However, in his more presently felt pain, he reacquaints himself with the WHY behind his existence (as he now has time and potentially only the freedom to decide his attitude in his situation) and can allow his inner strength (his essence) to guide his future action (existence preceding essence). By individual free will, the patient (and prisoner alike) can understand this essence by implementation, with the ability to endure his disease (or imprisonment) as a test of its success. We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. FRANKL

7 References Brennan, Marcia. The Heart of the Hereafter: Love Stories from the End of Life. Forthcoming from John Hunt Publishing, U.K Cassell, Eric. "The Relationship Between Suffering and Meaning or Meaninglessness." The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press, Chochinov, Harvey, et al. Dignity Therapy: A Novel Psychotherapeutic Intervention for Patients Near the End of Life. Journal of Clinical Oncology, Vol 23, No 24, August Frankl, Viktor. Man s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, Nuland, Sherwin B. "Hope and the Cancer Patient." How We Die. New York: Vintage Books, Sartre, Jean-Paul. Existentialism is a Humanism. 1946