How Finding Meaning in Suffering Effects Wellbeing
Life comes with many challenges, and the quest for meaning is key to our mental health, wellbeing and human flourishing. Circumstances happen in life that people cannot control, and suffering comes along.
In having to come to terms with traumatic events, finding meaning in what happened can be helpful in the healing process. This can be beneficial even when going through periods of suffering.
What is Meaning?
Meaning is defined as the significance of something, what it represents or expresses.
Meaning is personal and is different for everyone.
Meaning is believing that a relationship breakup is the best thing that ever happened to you because of how your life changed afterwards.
It is knowing that the work you do helps others have a better life.
It is starting again after redundancy and finding the courage to switch careers.
It is a new appreciation of life when facing a terminal illness.
Meaning is one of the biggest things existing in our lives that can make a difference in how we choose to live them.
In a classic tribute to hope, Viktor Frankl famously wrote about finding greater meaning and purpose in life after surviving three years in Auschwitz, Dachau, and other Nazi concentration camps during World War II.
Frankl subsequently introduced his theory of tragic optimism to the world, suggesting that people can maintain a positive outlook on life, despite the devastating experiences and adversity they go through. In doing so, their lives can be meaningful in any circumstances.
Finding meaning in suffering is likely one of the biggest challenges people will ever have to face.
When emotional and physical pain is all-consuming and a person is barely making it through the day, it is hard to have the mental energy to find meaning and make sense of what has happened.
So is it easier to find meaning in the suffering that has occurred in the past rather than suffering whilst a person experiences it? Recent research attempted to find out.
The Research
Researchers set out to explore the role of meaning in suffering and its effect on wellbeing. In three experiments, people reflected and wrote about their experiences of suffering and what meaning they gave to it.
All groups were asked to complete questionnaires on their life satisfaction and meaning in life. One group also answered questionnaires on PTSD, general anxiety, and depression.
One group was asked to describe their suffering, what it felt like, how long it lasted and when it happened. Another group was asked to describe current suffering, what it felt like and how long it had been going on. A third group was asked to write about either past or present suffering and whether they could find meaning in what had happened or were not able to find meaning.
As the researchers predicted, the results showed that people who wrote about past suffering gave their suffering greater meaning than those who wrote about current suffering. This implies that it is easier to find meaning in our past suffering than in our present suffering, as the timing of suffering plays a part in how someone develops meaning.
People who found it easier to develop meaning from suffering had lower anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms. People who were currently suffering found it harder to create meaning and had higher anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms than those who had given meaning to past suffering.
This means wellbeing is influenced by a person’s ability to create meaning. When we are suffering, our ability to create meaning can be negatively affected, which impacts our mental health.
It is likely that people who find it less challenging to find meaning in current times of suffering benefit from better overall wellbeing. This may ultimately make it easier for them to move through a period of grief and trauma by protecting them from extra challenges to their mental health.
After reading this paper, my initial question was, why can some people create meaning in times of suffering easier than others? The researchers acknowledge that a future direction for research would be investigating this aspect further. Until research finds further answers there are ways we can help ourselves.
So how can we create meaning from suffering?
The following examples are of four things I have found helpful in my own meaning journey; I hope you find them worthwhile.
1. Meaning Therapy
In 2019, as part of my Positive Psychology education, I attended an INPM summer institute taught by Dr Paul Wong. Meaning Therapy is a tool developed by Dr Wong, which builds on Viktor Frankl’s tragic optimism ideas and incorporates his own vast research into meaning.
Wong suggests that by focusing on positive personal meaning and having a future orientation, people can be helped to move beyond a life of simply surviving towards happiness and resilience.
I found the experience fascinating, and the information I learned was invaluable. Many counsellors and therapists are now using Meaning Therapy, or a focus on creating meaning, as part of their therapeutic approaches.
2. Man’s Search for Meaning — Viktor Frankl
Over the past two years of the pandemic, Frankl’s theory of tragic optimism has become more popular and widely known.
By reading this book years ago, my eyes were opened to the power of choosing the meaning we give to the events in our lives, and my healing journey kickstarted.
Passively accepting “everything happens for a reason” and having no control over my life was not helpful for me. Since I consciously started looking for meaning in events happening and making sense of my journey, I have felt more empowered.
One of my favourite quotes that I always turn to in tough times is from this book
“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.”
3. Hope
As part of my Master’s degree, I investigated whether hope had been present in my actions whilst I was going through a period of suffering.
I was surprised to find I had been unknowingly applying hope interventions to myself, which ultimately contributed to my ability to find meaning in my sorrow and move through it.
Hope is not just a word Princess Leia likes to refer to in Star Wars films. Hope is a concept continually referred to in history. The Greek Mythology story of Pandora’s box gave the world a reason why bad things happen to good people and a way of coping with this reality through holding onto hope.
Hope is what I cling to when going through adverse situations.
4. Spirituality
Over the past few years, I have been building my beliefs and spirituality and increasing my faith in something bigger than myself. This has helped me immensely.
Spirituality comes in many forms and is a personal choice.
For some people, it is found in religion; for other people, it is found in mother nature; and for others, it is the idea of the universe or a guiding hand taking care of them.
In building spirituality and faith in something bigger than ourselves, we can feel less alone in life, we can feel stronger in facing our problems, and we can feel like something will catch us when we fall.
By finding meaning in past events in my life, I have also increased my ability to create meaning from current events, therefore providing better protection to my wellbeing. This has yet to be severely tested, but I am hopeful.
Ultimately, suffering is different for everyone and a deeply personal experience. The circumstances causing the suffering can range from one extreme to another. Although whether a person seeks professional help or finds other avenues of support is a personal choice, the benefits to our wellbeing of finding meaning in suffering are clear.
