Live or Die

Live or Die

      A classic example of the psychology of survival is the life and work of Victor Frankl. Dr. Frankl was a jewish psychiatrist who spent his world war II tour of duty as an inmate in a Nazi concentration camp. Here, he had the opportunity to study the reaction and response of many to one of the worst hardships and horrors imaginable. He published his classic best selling book Man's Search for Meaning in 1946.

      Frankl identifies three psychological reactions experienced by all concentration camp inmates to one degree or another:

      (1) Shock during the initial admission phase to the camp.

      (2) Apathy after becoming accustomed to camp existence, in which the inmate values only that which helps himself or others survive.

      (3) Reactions of depersonalization, moral deformity, bitterness, and disillusionment after being liberated.

      Frankl noted that those prisoners who had a former life of wealth, privilege and great expectations suffered the greatest shock and often lost hope and died the quickest. Those who had a more humble life with fewer privileges and expectations possessed a greater inner strength and moral toughness that enabled them to endure and continue without losing hope. Frankl concluded that life never ceases to have meaning, even in suffering and death.

      Frankl concluded that a prisoner's psychological reactions were not solely the result of the conditions of his life, but rather from the choices he made in the face of severe suffering and uncertainty. Indeed, the possession of freedom of choice in this matter was a core factor. Freedom of choice, when exercised, is power. Not even the concentration camps and certain death took away this inner freedom. The inner hold a prisoner had on his spiritual self relied on having a faith in the future. Once a prisoner lost hope and faith, he died very quickly.

      These observations hold true in life in general. They are even more intensely manifest in stressful, scary and dangerous disaster situations. What are your core beliefs? How strong is your confidence in your self? Do you have a clear purpose for living?

      It is better to do introspection and be clear on these core issues when you don't have alligators sizing you up for their next meal.