Viktor Frankl, Meaning, and Mental Health

As we mark World Mental Health Day on October 10, the life of Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl offers educators and students an opportunity to reflect on the importance of meaning, connection and caring for others - even in the most excruciating circumstances.

Frankl was a Jewish Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who before the Holocaust, had begun developing his approach to psychotherapy, later known as logotherapy. In 1942, while living in Vienna, he and his family were deported by the Nazis to several concentration camps, the first been Theresienstadt and later on Auschwitz. Members of his family, including his wife and parents were murdered during the Holocaust.

Frankl himself used his medical training to assist fellow prisoners, providing care and psychological support. Helping others was not only an expression of his humanity; it also gave him a sense of purpose and connection that helped him navigate his own experience. After liberation, Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning, drawing on his experiences and observations of fellow prisoners. He described how caring for others and finding a sense of purpose could help people endure unimaginable conditions.

But Frankl’s message was not that suffering is somehow beneficial, or that people can simply choose to be positive in the face of trauma. Rather, he recognized suffering for what it was while exploring the ways people might find meaning within circumstances they couldn’t change.

For educators, this distinction is important. Supporting mental health is not about asking students to “look on the bright side.” It’s about creating communities where young people feel seen, connected, valued and able to ask for help. On World Mental Health Day, Frankl’s story reminds us that sometimes one of the most meaningful things we can offer another person is simply our presence and compassion.

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