Despair And Powerlessness: Does Life Still Have Meaning? Lecture Notes

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Dr. Alfried Langle

Lecture notes.

Kiev. July 3, 2015.

In the process of determining and thinking about which topic should take place today, I thought about the fact that recently in psychotherapy the topic despair and impotence more and more common.

The fact is that when a person's existence is seized by powerlessness and despair, meaninglessness comes into life. This evening I will take a look at this topic, from the T. existential perspective of existential analysis, logotherapy and we will also hear the position of Viktor Frankl on this matter. We will phenomenologically open the doors to a space where despair and powerlessness exist.

If we approach the topic phenomenologically, this means that everyone will be personally invited to research. And with this I would like to start and approach despair.

Do I know despair? Have I ever been in despair? Was I desperate? Or I've only seen it in other people. I may have been worried despair and frustration at school? For example, despite the fact that I studied a lot, I could not pass the exam. Or despite all my efforts, I cannot prevent something, for example, winters in Italy.

What is the peculiarity of the theme of despair?

The presence of the other pole, on one side despairand on the other hope … In Romance languages, despair is translated, as without hope.

In English - disappointment - disappointment, disappointment.

Who has hope, he does not despair!

That's why " hope", This is the term that is at the other extreme.

If we figure out what is hope, we can understand what despair is. Whoever has hope stands alive! He hopes for a good end and for creative being, and that something good and valuable will happen in his life.

That there will be health, that the family will remain whole, that there will be no war.

What is the special characteristic of hope? It is that hoping presupposes a certain passivity. For example, I hope that tomorrow there will be good weather and perhaps there will be no rain, and this is like a wish, in which I know that I personally cannot do anything about this. A person who hopes knows that he personally cannot influence this situation. In hope, we seem to be directed forward and at the same time we can put our hands on our knees. It sounds like despair, but the difference is significant.

In many situations, we cannot do anything, but because I hope, I seem to have an attachment, a connection with what will be. For example, I hope it won't be cancer if I'm being examined. And this means that I maintain my connection with the value of health, I am aimed at it.

This is a very big difference compared to despair. IN despair there is no longer any confidence that things can go well.

That is why in hope there is a spirit of realism. These are no longer fantasies, not illusions, not dreams. Hope says that something is possible, that everything can still be very good. Indeed, something has not happened yet, and the possibility is not excluded that something good will happen.

Popper's principle of critical rationalism, says that hope not just something realistic, but something the safest thing that can exist in life. Until something is ruled out, this is the basis for hope. This is a well-founded sense of a rational process.

Of course, there is no certainty about how this will end. Therefore, it will end well! And this is very realistic

Something can end negatively. And this is a risk. But despite the risk, I am holding on to something positive. I hold, and desire, and abide in a relationship with risk.

For example, that the conflict will be resolved well, or it won't be cancer after the research I went through.

When I hope, I remain true to what is of value to me

In hope, we will take the last chance. All we can do sometimes is take an open position. We do not give up value. Until the moment it is not ruled out. Hopefully I'm active. Even if I cannot change the situation, I am active in not giving up my value.

When we say “Nothing good will happen anymore, I no longer have the strength to hope, I’m too disappointed,” a load of tension arises that makes us depressed.

For example, if I behave actively, I will hate, or I will experience my powerlessness. This means that at the active level of psychodynamics, something will move in me. Therefore, the proverb "Hope dies last" will be very appropriate here.

At the same time, a person dies together with hope, and he falls into the abyss. And where hope dies, only despair remains. In desperation, everything collapses. Nothing holds me anymore and there is no more hope. The valuables have been destroyed or I no longer have access to them. I can't make decisions anymore. Fear and powerlessness. Desperate, I no longer have a future. There is no future that you want to live, that is good. Desperate, I no longer see perspective.

We are no longer on the edge of the abyss, we have the feeling that we have already fallen there. And powerlessness is the predominant feeling in a situation of despair. The only thing I can be sure of is that there is no more security and everything is destroyed. And so I can no longer control myself, I lose myself.

For example, there may be different situations that cause a similar feeling. We have frequent floods and avalanches in Austria. And when I look at a house that has been destroyed, I experience despair.

Despair is experienced by a person when death takes a child. When the war takes away the future or does not give the opportunity to be with relatives, or takes the most dear people. This feeling can be experienced because of the situation in society, during natural disasters. Due to the fact that at home I was experiencing violence, loneliness.

A case from practice.

The story of one woman who met a bad man, and then she had a child, and then she dated other men. She was unhappy with them, broke up and performed two abortions. Now alcohol plays a big role in her life. And everything I knew about her life was riddled with violence. She said about herself that she was crushed by life. Death was the only solution.

And in despair I wonder what I am going to do with my life. Everything that gave her support made sense - it was destroyed.

Despair always has the following characteristics:

• Despair always happens in a state of need. Life is no longer bearable. There is no person who was desperate and happy.
• In despair, feelings appear that do not allow rational thinking.
• The content of these feelings - I no longer know how to proceed. I don't want to give up, I want to live. I see more roads, how to go further. I stand against the wall, I feel blocked.

And the most important thing to say about despair is that it has a high prospect of suicide.

In condition despair we see something, but we do not find a way. And in this, a person knows the hopelessness. Life is at a dead end. Any hope becomes meaningless. And even this state does not make sense. And the one who is in a state of despair, he knows this impasse. And then there are sensations, loss of meaning and hopelessness. Near this pole of knowledge, a person experiences subjective powerlessness and inability to achieve goals. And this combination creates despair.

But if I have no idea how to continue to live, heavy feelings are born out of this impotence. Mental suffering. Fear, panic, hysteria, addiction.

The subjective pole of despair is experienced because "I am not capable of being active."

At the other pole of this experience, there is be able and capabilities.

I can

If I can do something, I am not powerless. If I have the opportunity to work with my partner on the conflict, I do not feel powerless. It denotes power and strength over the problem. Know and be able. If I can do something, then a bridge to the world is created.

If I knew Ukrainian, I would not use the help of a translator. Irina (translator) makes up the deficit here, and here she is my "ability". In powerlessness, the world is closed, I have no access to it, in this situation I am a victim, I am trapped, I am left to destruction.

And yet another thought is important. Is being able always associated with - "let it be"? Those who “can” can also leave. For example, if something loses its meaning and there is no reason to continue it. I no longer continue my studies because I do not receive anything new for myself. And then, in the conflict, I no longer continue to listen to the dialogue, as I understand that nothing will change here.

In fact, being able has limits. It's like inhaling and exhaling. I do something and let go.

If I cannot “let it be,” I don’t let it go, then I am in debt. And here there is a difference with despair. Desperate can't let go. And this further increases the impotence.

If I cannot give it to be, to leave it, then it arises solidification and paralysis … And this powerlessness and despair can arise in all four dimensions of existence.

First dimension - when I am in relation to the real world, I definitely cannot do anything. For example, recently my clients were nuns who were stuck in an elevator for three days and could not do anything about it. Or when I am stuck in a car that is on fire. Then fear and apathy arise.

In the second dimension - in relation to life, powerlessness can also arise. For example, if we are in a relationship where I am devalued, I am beaten, I am constantly abused. I cannot insist on parting because I am too attached to this person. And at some point, despair comes. Powerlessness stands opposite the power of life.

Third dimension, when it comes to attitudes towards yourself. It is a unique experience of being alone where I cannot interact with others. To be alone, to be forsaken. That which leads to hysterical silence.

Fourth dimension, when a person does not see the meaning in his whole life. When we are unable to see that something is changing, something grows. Then existential despair arises. Particular danger of addiction. Loss in relation to oneself, and loss in relation to existence. Because of this, psychodynamic states can arise. Or a person starts to produce rage, cynicism.

IN despair a person loses a deep connection with his existence. In one or most of these dimensions. Even to the point of losing the level of experience that something is holding us. These are the foundations of being. Loss of the feeling that life is good after all.

In the third dimension, a person loses connection with himself as a creator. And in the fourth dimension, we lose our relationship and connection with the whole world. The desperate is no longer rooted in what keeps us here. He loses connection with deep structures, with a deep feeling that something is carrying us.

In Frankl's understanding, despair looks like a mathematical formula.

Despair = Suffering - Meaning.

It is important to distinguish between grief and despair. And now we will talk about a patient who has not found a partner, has no children, and from this came to despair.

Of course, this is sad, but why is it about despair?

It arises when the fulfillment of desire is elevated to the Absolute. And then the meaning of life depends on the fulfillment of this desire.

In despair can only be the person who created God from something and this is something more for him than everything else in his life. A person has protection from despair only when only one of the most important things in his life is to survive (to endure life). And this is more than withstanding, it is like passing an exam, passing the exam of life

In her case, life consists of unhappiness in love and the fact that she has no children. And in this regard, V. Frankl brings us to the topic of refusal and sacrifice. When a person cannot refuse something, he faces the danger of falling into despair. To give up means to give up in the name of something more meaningful.

Nietzsche writes that a person suffers, but this in itself is not a problem. Only in the case when there is not enough answer - for what suffering. When we no longer see perspective and meaning, then despair arises

Now we can generalize, frame what is most important. Despair arises when I can no longer do anything of value and can no longer see anything of value, and then I pass into the cliff of existence.

Thanks.

Translator. Psychologist, student of Alfrida Langele Irina Davidenko

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AUTHOR: Alfried Langle (1951) holds a doctorate in medicine and psychology. Pupil and colleague of Viktor Frankl.

On the basis of logotherapy and existential analysis, V. Frankl developed an original theory of fundamental existential motivations, which significantly expanded the theoretical and methodological basis of existential-analytical counseling and psychotherapy. Author of books and a large number of articles on the theory and practice of existential analysis. President of the International Society for Existential Analysis and Logotherapy in Vienna (GLE-International). Currently, the national chapters of the International Society for Existential Analysis and Logotherapy are located in different countries of the world.

According to the educational program developed by A. Langle, existential psychotherapists are trained in Europe, North and South America (Vienna, Innsbruck, Zurich, Hanover, Prague, Bucharest, Warsaw, Moscow, Vancouver, Toronto, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile), Kiev.