The third and final phase, the first two phases are mentioned in post 22b, of the 22 post series comparison of concentration camp prisoners psychological reaction to being freed from prison with a rehab patients’ psychological reaction to being discharged from the hospital.  Before looking at those, let’s ask what possessed the guards to treat their fellow man with such brutality as many prisoners claim to have been treated. Dr. Frankl, choosing to stick with a basic answer instead confusing the occasion with details suited to an in depth psychological discussion, points out that: 1.   Among the guards were those who could be defined

Sara L. Stein, M.D., Psychiatrist, Physician Leader,  Speaker, Teacher Award-Winning Author Obese From The Heart (c 2009) Stress is society’s greatest modern affliction. We have completely lost control of our workdays. A workday used to be dawn to dusk. It used to be from the time you arrived at your workplace until you went home. It used to be 5 days a week. Not anymore. We work constantly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We work at our jobs, in our homes, at school, in traffic, at the grocery store. We work shopping on the Internet. When we

“Detachment forward march!” the guard’s rough voice shouted. The prisoners stumbled across the frozen ground. Those with feet too sore to walk held unto their neighbor’s arm to keep from falling.  “Left, 2, 3, 4! Left, 2, 3, 4! Left, 2, 3, 4!” Stiffly the prisoners stumbled along. “If our wives could see us now,” the man next to Dr. Frankl whispered suddenly. “I do hope they’re better off in their camps and don’t know what’s happening to us.” Dr. Frankl began thinking of his own wife. They stumbled on for miles, slipping on occasional ice spots and holding each other

Reading Dr Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning shows that being a crash survivor who is locked in a suddenly half paralyzed body has a surprising number of experiences in common with, but thankfully a greater number of experiences different than the experiences of those locked in German concentration camps. Both the actual similarities and the actual differences themselves are of interest to this post only so far as they can help us come closer to understanding how the attitude we choose can affect how well we handle the particular situation in which we find ourselves. This whole concentration camp idea

Reading Dr Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning shows that being a crash survivor who is locked in a suddenly half paralyzed body has a surprising number of experiences in common with, but thankfully a greater number of experiences different than the experiences of those locked in German concentration camps. Both the actual similarities and the actual differences themselves are of interest to this post only so far as they can help us come closer to understanding how the attitude we choose can affect how well we handle the particular situation in which we find ourselves. This whole concentration camp idea

How I chose to show valid the claim that I made in my previous post that we have the freedom to choose our Attitudes is to cite an extreme example of someone who chose to keep a positive Attitude despite having every reason to have a bad, negative and depressed Attitude. As I read Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, two things became quite clear from the very beginning: 1.   He was focusing not on why so many died but on why any at all survived. 2.   Looking in my rear view mirror back over 30 years, I still

I’m grateful for the specific body that I have. I’m grateful that, even though it is half paralyzed and unable to function as it did before my motorcycle crash, the parts of it that do work are working well and I’m not in constant or recurring pain. I’m grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had to learn life changing lessons. Some of these lessons have been painful. Thankfully I’ve been blessed with the resilience to literally get up and keep plodding forward every time I fall down and feel like quitting. I’m grateful for the many people who have been

Facebook is a great way of maintaining old friendships, building new friendships and developing stress related ulcers and bad Attitudes. I don’t know how my FB dilemma happened, and I apparently have no idea how to fix the problem. if I did, you would likely not be experiencing the opportunity to read about it. What’s happening is that my Facebook account somehow got intertwined with my girlfriend’s account and so letters to me go to her account. Other, and perhaps related, issues are that my account no longer requires a username and password to enter and every few minutes, or

I have an Attitude about all the technology I’m being forced to learn. When will it end? Many developments in the tech world are very helpful and even quite amazing. But the more helpful and amazing they are when they work, the more damaging and bewildering they are when they don’t work. It seems like any technical advance comes with potential drawbacks. Even a much earlier technological break-through of about 30 some years ago, the garage door opener, was a potential hazard. Sure, it was nice not to have to get out of your car in the rain and open

From Ruby in Silicon Valley, California Dear Dr. Rosie, I’m so confused! Though I’m not very fulfilled in my current position within a high tech corporation, I like that if offers me freedom from worry about job security. Even with this economy requiring so much downsizing, I feel secure and that provides me with relief. On the other hand, I’m feeling like I’m missing out on something. I can’t really put words to it yet, but when I leave the office and am in traffic I begin to wonder what it would be like to have my own business, work