Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist in his book Man’s Search for a Meaning states his experiences he survived in as an inmate in a concentration camp. He lists 3 stages in a person’s life in a concentration camp:
- Admission
- Adaption to routine
- Liberation
I noticed that there are similarities comparing the idea of these stages with my experience. In a way, it helped me better understand what was happening to me during the Leukemia treatment period. Therefore, below I state my understanding of these phases.
ADMISSION
An initial state of shock in which I was unaware of exactly what was happening. I became surrounded by unfamiliar territory in a very short time. I wasn’t sure which next step to take so I just followed the instructions. During that period, I often asked myself various questions, such as “Why is this happening to me?”.
ADAPTION TO ROUTINE
But after a while I adopted new knowledge and beliefs. I took comfort in the fact that I felt it was just one educational period in my life. I knew what to expect. I implemented new routines into my lifestyle that became automated. However, a certain emotional coldness occurred. Medical staff, and needle punctures have become commonplace. What I considered horrible before the treatment, I now looked without fear.
Also, with the end of uncertainty comes uncertainty in the end. Every day seemed the same. It used to be hard to imagine the end. On the other hand, thinking of how it will end and hoping for the best was sometimes the only thing I could do to feel better.
LIBERATION
I expected that after the treatment, society would accept me with kindness and understanding. I thought how there will be no problems after hospital treatment. But in some situations such an understanding was far from the truth. There were still problems only that the focus from the hospital perspective shifted to other obligations.
After a while, that the patient life starts to seem quite distant. It’s as if someone else has experienced certain situations and I am often amazed when I read the events I have experienced from the diary. Despite this, over time I adjusted to a “normal” life.
Although there is an incomparable difference between my life and the life of Victor Frankl, I have noticed that there is an similarity between his idea of stages and my experience. I saw that his ideas could be adapted to my period of treatment. In this way, I better understood some of the events I experienced and how they affected me.
In the end, I believe it is much easier to cope and see what awaits us if we know the life cycle of trauma. Also, it is easier to accept our experience and have hope for progress when we see how and in what way someone else experienced the trauma.