Wu-Wei also result in a state of self-transcendence by forgetting oneself and the passing of time, but through a different path of “action without action” and characterized by the emotion of peace and harmony (i.e., mature happiness rather than feelings of excitement). Wu-Wei is primarily situated in the default mode network of the brain.

Personally, I can accomplish more through Wu-Wei than action because most of my impactful insights and life-changing decisions came from mindful meditation or biblical contemplation. I also have experienced mature happiness through Wu-Wei rather than pleasurable activities because not only can I have a blessed time of inner peace and deep joy in communion with God, nature, and others, but surprisingly also have chaironic happiness.

References

Clough, R. B. (n.d.). The daoist wu wei love of rocks and walden. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/24153106/The_daoist_wu_wei_love_of_rocks_and_walden

Clough, R. B. (n.d.). Wu wei – Augustinian-Daoist transcending through humility. Academic.edu. https://www.academia.edu/24152170/Wu_wei_Augustinian_Daoist_transcending_through_humility

Moleski, M. (2012). Attending to mysteries: instilling Polanyi’s epistemology with the wisdom of Wu Wei. Academia.edu. https://www.academia.edu/4302659/Attending_to_Mysteries_Instilling_Polanyis_Epistemology_with_the_Wisdom_of_Wu_Wei

Tinery, J. (2014). A meditation on the art of not trying. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/science/a-meditation-on-the-art-of-not-trying.html

Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 52(2), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022511

Wong, P. T. P. (2012). Toward a dual-systems model of what makes life worth living. In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications (2nd ed., pp. 3-22). New York, NY: Routledge.

Wong, P. T. P. (2020). Made for Resilience and Happiness: Effective Coping with COVID-19 According to Viktor E. Frankl and Paul T. P. Wong. Toronto, ON: INPM Press.

Wong, P. T. P., & Bowers, V. (2018). Mature happiness and global wellbeing in difficult times. In N. R. Silton (Ed.), Scientific concepts behind happiness, kindness, and empathy in contemporary society. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Xing, Y., & Sims, D. (2011). Leadership, Daoist Wu Wei and reflexivity: Flow, self-protection and excuse in Chinese bank managers’ leadership practice. Management Learning, 43(1), 97-112. DOI: 10.1177/1350507611409659

This article was drawn from: https://www.meaning.ca/isepp/rifs/

The post The Role of Wu-Wei in Flourishing appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

After many days of prayer and serious consideration, we decided to go by faith because my wife wanted to had a reunion with her own friends who, together, started the Clinical Supervision Section in the American Psychological Association more than 20 years ago, and I really wanted to visit my aging sister and sister-in-law in Vancouver right after the Conference.

I was surprised that I was able to walk quite a distance with my 4-wheeled Rollaboard luggage as a walker before I reached the disabled area for a wheelchair. I was also pleasantly surprised that I was able to tolerate the pain and discomfort of sitting on the airplane-seat for about 6 hours. Even without much sleep last night, I was still able to write a draft version of an abstract for the Journal of Positive Psychology (JOPP) on a writing pad.

My Vision For A Positive Suffering

• Do you remember the darkest days of your life, when you found yourself at the bottom of an abyss and the whole world had abandoned you, when God did not seem to answer your urgent cry for help?
• Have you looked at the daily devastation and sounds and sights of human miseries in Gaza and Ukraine?
• Have you thought about all the existential threats to humanity, such as nuclear war and ecological crisis (Wong et al., 2022)?
• Have you considered the how tragic it is that human beings destroy each other as well as themselves with all their greed, pride, and inordinate desires in pursuit of happiness and success?

If we do not overcome and transform the problem of pain and suffering, it will continue to torment us and spread to other people like a virus. With these sad thoughts in my mind, and a fire in my belly, I was inspired to write following draft of the JOPP abstract almost in one breath:

Positive Suffering Mindset, Ultimate Existential Being And Sustainable Flourishing

Treating wellbeing research as an intellectual game of debating opposing theoretical views may not yield immediate pragmatic results. We think that it may be more productive to reorient towards focusing on solutions to real life existential issues and meet people’s basic needs for healing, wellbeing, and wholeness.

This paper is based on meeting the human basic need for agency, community, and spirituality. It provides 3 missing links in positive psychology: (1) The meaning and transformative potential of suffering, (2) How to satisfy our spiritual hunger for sacredness and union with the divine, and (3) How to improve cultural harmony and world peace. At times, our hearts remain restless, constantly in search of healing, liberation, and meaning. We believe that the science of meaning needs to consider how our deep-seated longing for happiness and meaning may be related to our restless soul’s yearning for peace and harmony with the self, others, and God.

The above conceptual framework is called existential positive psychology (Wong, 2021) or PP2.0 (Wong, 2011) because it addresses the inescapable aspects of human existence in wellbeing research. Thus, EPP adds the depths of suffering, the heights of spiritual aspirations, and the breadths of compassion for all people from different cultures to positive psychology as usual (PP1.0). It consists of three pillars: meaning of life, meaning of suffering, and meaning of loving your neighbors from other cultures (Wong, 2023a). In sum, EPP takes a holistic and interdisciplinary approach and differs from PP1.0 fundamentally in presuppositions, objectives, and methodology.

This unique approach is rooted in Wong’s personal history and culture (Wong & Gonot-Schoupinsky, in press) and represents an integration between East and West. Wong (2019) has researched the positive psychology of suffering for more than 3 decades. The development of EPP benefits from all the opposition and resistance that have forced him to dig deeper and wider (Wong & Worth, 2017) in his search for the truth that can really give meaning and hope to the suffering people.

This research program culminates in his Positive Suffering Mindset (PSM) Hypothesis (Wong, 2024a) which answers fundamental existential questions: How can one find happiness and fulfill one’s potential in a chaotic and difficult world? How can we become better and stronger through struggles and suffering? How can we make this world a better place for future generations?

EPP calls for a complete reorientation to the existential crises confronting us (Broderick, 2024; NPPA, 2024): we should not just consider the wellbeing of the individual, but also of society and humanity. Furthermore, it posits that the direct pursuit of happiness will result in unhappiness, and the most promising path to enduring happiness is to overcome and transform suffering into success and triumph. In order to become whole and flourish, one needs to develop a PSM, which represents the ultimate existential resources.

More specifically, PSM consists of a cluster of 5 inter-related mindsets: (1) Mindfulness – How to focus on the present and face life as it is, (2) Meaning – How to discover the hidden goodness and meaning in every situation, (3) Dialectic – How to navigate between two opposites and discover the happy medium. (4) Resilient – How to overcome and transcend adversity, trauma and painful emotions, and (5) Growth – How to grow tall and yield abundant good fruit by developing a deep root system in a fertile land.

We will provide both empirical support from positive psychology research and philosophical insights from classical existential philosophers for the above 5 mindsets and discuss innovative research programs and interventions to resolve a wide range of serious mental health challenges and existential threats.

We will also discuss the unique nature of mature happiness (Wong & Bower, 2019) and existential wellbeing (Wong, 2022) as well as the supporting evidence. Different from current concepts of existential wellbeing (e.g., Ryff, 2012), ultimate existential wellbeing is based on all the available existential resources of PSM and is capable of surviving all kinds of traumas and storms of life. Just as PP1.0 is ideal for peace and prosperity, EPP is best for times of suffering. Together, they provide a more complete account of wellbeing and flourishing for the 21st century.

I felt satisfied that I finally had an undisrupted time to explain why I was compelled to blaze this new trail alone as if guided by an invisible hand. I knew that the above abstract was too long, but at least it was comprehensive enough for my co-authors to understand my views on several major issues.

I am well aware that wise men like William James, Viktor Frankl, and the Dalai Lama proposed similar ideas long before me. My contribution is to expand and translate these powerful ideas into testable scientific principles and useful interventions for the 21^st Century and beyond.

A Big-Tent Approach Towards Integration

Although the above abstract was for an invited paper, I was not confident about how my co-authors and the reviewers would respond to this lone voice from the wilderness because based on my past experience, many of my most cited papers were first rejected for some trivial or trumped-up charges (Wong, 2020), such as: you are unscientific (i.e., you are too religious), your theory is not consistent with mainstream psychology (i.e., Western imperialism), or your views are not exactly what I have in mind for the journal (i.e., personal bias).

Such negative voices still haunt me because even my most of cited papers were rejected first. Why are the reviewers so adversarial and nit-picky? Why do they not focus on more important questions such as whether an article makes a significant contribution to the literature and to humanity? Are they on a power-trip? Do they realize that the days of Western hegemony will soon be over? Do they still evaluate manuscripts with their tribal mentality? That is why one important reason for creating the INPM as a Big Tent, with our own journals and conferences, is in order to survive in a culture of systemic racism.

I take comfort from the fact that even Einstein’s general theory of relativity was rejected for many years for lacking empirical support. Einstein’s deep knowledge of the universe was not based on empirical findings. In fact, it took many years before his general theory of relativity was supported by research. I am not Einstein, but I am encouraged by his experience and believe that the future of scientific progress is towards integration of different factions and different schools.

It is sad that nowadays that most positive psychologists would reject any deep idea or any unconventional hypothesis without empirical support. This blind belief in factualism only leads to superficial knowledge because only simplified and operationalized ideas can be readily tested. Furthermore, there is also the replication problem.

Therefore, how can we accept positive psychology’s findings as the true knowledge for making important life decisions is times of suffering and uncertainly? In times like this, would you prefer to make decisions that are aligned with deeply held values and religious beliefs? This has been my main critique of positive psychology as usual (Wong & Roy, 2017) and my main reason for developing an existentially oriented positive psychology.

God’s New Ten Commandments

I know very well that this is another unpopular topic because Moses’ Ten Commandments have been banned in the US for years, against the Christian values of their founding fathers. Even now, any attempt to revive the ten commandments for the courts and schools would trigger strong condemnations.

Do people realize that their rebellion against their Creator will only bring disasters and miseries to themselves? We are now living in a polarized and broken world, with people fighting and killing each other. Until we learn to obey the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22:37-39), we will continue to be plagued by conflicts and wars. According to Martin Luther King, Jr. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

I have been waiting for God’s revelation for ten new commandments for suffering people since my painful days in Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. After praying day and night for an epiphany so that I could move forward, God revealed a new theory of hope to me (Wong, 2023b), but I did not see a burning bush, nor did hear any voice from above.

I continue to seek God’s revelation so that people can repent and seek redemption and regeneration. Maybe I was closer to God higher up in the airplane: I suddenly understood the PSM with greater death and clarity. Now, I am able clarify how it encapsulates the 10 principles of flourishing according to the Bible (Wong et al., 2024).

Before landing in LAX Airport, I was able to quickly jot down these ideas on my writing pad shown as follows. To make it less offensive to my positive psychology friends, I will frame them in scientific terms.

The 10 Principles Of Living An Abundant Life

Now, at home in front of my own computer, I will expand on these rough notes for my readers. Hope that they can consider and practice them so see whether they can transform their life:

Principle 1: Accept Life As It Is With Gratitude

Acceptance encompasses accepting and affirming both the visible and invisible realities; both the material and spiritual world. In fact, according to quantum physics, the world is invisible (World Science Festival, 2014).

How much you do know about acceptance? Do you know that acceptance is more than self-awareness? One can be aware of something without accepting it or taking it seriously. Do you know the power of acceptance? Do you know that this is the first step towards positive suffering? Consider the following quotes:

• René Descartes: “I think, therefore, I am.”
• Proverbs 23:7: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”
• Jordan Peterson: “I suffer, therefore, I am.” (Tiago V Faleiro, 2017)
• Arthur Schopenhauer (1851/2020): “Pleasure and well-being is negative and suffering positive.”
• Friedrich Nietzsche: “I love my fate.” (see Han-Pile, 2011)
• Paul Wong: “I suffer; therefore, I rejoice.” (NPPA, 2024)

Is this ironic? After the huge first wave of positive psychology on happiness, the second wave begins with the affirmation of suffering, fate, and death – no matter how painful – as the foundation for happiness and flourishing (Wong, 2024b). Meditate on Jesus’s prayer at Gethsemane before dying on the cross for our sins:

“Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” (Matthew 26: 38-40)

I have wrestled with God many several times before surrendering my life to God’s will and accepting a painful and impossible mission to be a lone voice in the wilderness, crying out for the need for repentance, redemption, and regeneration. I know full well that this prophetic voice would be met with opposition because people would rather embrace a regenerative positive psychology without the need for repentance and faith in God’s grace.

It is also impossible to experience genuine transformation without accepting our true self. According to Carl Rogers (1961/1995), “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”

Acceptance means accepting myself and others as flawed human being as well as affirming that are all made in God’s image with a divine spark waiting to be rekindled. Thus, it is not possible to know our true self without accepting both our bright and dark sides.

Acceptance also means accepting my hard fate, my brokenness, my horrible circumstances with gratitude. This is a much tougher demand that expressing gratitude for the positive things. Existential gratitude asks me to be thankful for being alive and for the precious lessons learned from suffering (Jans-Beken & Wong, 2019).

Yes, no matter how hopeless the prospect, how much the physical pain I endure and how unfairly I have been treated, I can still love my fate and find something to be grateful for, such as for the training to grow stronger and for steeling my faith and confidence in my mission in the crucible of suffering.

Principle 2: Focus On The Present Moment

This is another life principle emphasized by all the best minds and supported by a wealth of research on mindfulness. We all can live a happy and productive life by focusing on the present rather than ruminating on past mistakes which could not be undone, or worrying about the future which is beyond our control.

Living for the present means that you do one thing at a time, and focus on what needs to be taken care first, such as an important deadline for your job, or caring for a sick spouse. It also means that that you organize your time around what matters most.

“Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.” (Covey, 1989)

Whatever you focus on, you will pay full attention and do your best. I am always grateful to any sales clerk, waiter, or office worker who serves their customers enthusiastically, but they are so rare.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” (Colossians 3:23). It is helpful to remind ourselves that we are working for God, so that we don’t get discouraged when our work is not appreciated or recognized.

There is power in acceptance and focusing. If one does not learn the discipline of focusing, one will be easily distracted, switching from one thing to another, without accomplishing anything. One reason why I could be so productive during the five-and-half hour flight on an airplane is because I did not have the usual disruptions and demands for my attention when working in my home office.

Principle 3: Be Curious About What Lies Beyond And What Lies Beneath

There is always some hidden beauty, truth, and goodness in every situation, but we need to discover it. I remember that when I worked in Daniel Berlyn’s lab at the University of Toronto in the late 60s, I watched with fascinating when a white rat would move gingerly on a glass table, driven by both the desire to explore and the fear of hidden danger.

We are motivated by the same conflicting motives. Yes, we have the innate desire of curiosity (Kashdan, 2024), but we are also cautious about hidden dangers or concerned about failures (Wong, 1979).

That is why we need to see the world not just with our physical eyes. To discover more about the world and about ourselves, we also need to see the invisible with our spiritual eyes. Willaim Blake could see a world in a grain of sand. Thich Nhat Hanh also said: “The entire cosmos can sing to us with the voice of a wild flower.”

Over the years, many people have expressed the view that there is no need to search for meaning; all we need is to life fully. This is only half true because searching for meaning is an inevitable process, according to attribution research (Wong & Weiner, 1981).

Those who say that they don’t need to search for the meaning of life most likely have already found their calling or vocation. Another possibility is that they have lived a privileged life and have not experienced any trauma, which will automatically trigger a negative oriented search for the cause or reason for their suffering.

A larger problem is that in a culture that favors a quick and superficial way of life, people have lost the appetite and skills for developing deep relationships or living life at a deeper level.

Principle 4: Consult Your Conscience To Decide The Right Course Of Action

As we dig deeper and wider, or explore new territories lying behind a veil of ambiguity and uncertainty, we are confronted with so may options. We need to decide when to stop searching and what is the right course of action, especially when the Devil makes an offer that is too good to refuse.

That is when we need to consult our conscience and ask: “Does it give me inner peace? Is this the responsible thing to do? Can I live with myself if I choose what is profitable rather than what is meaningful?” Ultimately, your conscience will always lead you to the path which you should follow so you could become what you are meant to be.

A decent person with a good heart will never betray her friends or hurt other people in order to gain some personal advantage. A good person will never bargain with the devil. A true Christian will never willingly do things that dishonour and offend God. Be such a person.

You need to follow your conscience not because you just want to be happy but because your want to be a good and trustworthy person who cannot be bribed or corrupted. With this kind of character and integrity, you always win, whatever the circumstances.

In Part 2 of this article, I will present the remaining principles. The entire 10 principles can be seen in the following table: 

For Part one, I want to conclude on the positive note of suffering with joy: real-life positivity.

Any label is both illuminating and limiting, especially for some holistic fussy concept. Since the label Existential Positive Psychology has been under attack from all sides, as I have described earlier, maybe I should use adjectives, such as Spiritual, Redemptive, Regenerative or Transcendental to describe my approach to positive psychology. I am sure someone will claim credit for any of these descriptive terms. Finally, I have decided to simply call it the Positive Suffering Mindset as a New Paradigm for Sustainable Flourishing. If someone also claims this label, I would say: Why don’t we work together under the same banner?

A rose by any other name is still a rose because of its unique features of beauty and fragrance growing from branches of sharp thorns. Similarly, what distinguishes my approach to the science of wellbeing is that one cannot achieve flourishing without embracing suffering.

References

Broderick, R. (Host) (2024, June 21). Reflections on Living Well Interview with Broderick Rodell | Dr. Paul T. P. Wong [Video]. YouTube.

Covey, S. R. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. Free Press.

Han-Pile, B. (2011). Nietzsche and Amor Fati. European Journal of Philosophy, 19, 224-261. Doi:10.1111/j.1468-0378.2009.00380.x

Jans-Beken, L. G. P. J., & Wong, P. T. P. (2019). Development and preliminary validation of the Existential Gratitude Scale (EGS). Counselling Psychology Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515070.2019.1656054

Kashdan, T. B. (2024). Foreword: The psychology of curiosity, purpose, flexibility, and more. In L. C. J. Wong (Ed.), Undefeatable: The saga of Paul T. P. Wong’s search for meaning and happiness in a difficult world. INPM Press.

National Positive Psychology Association (NPPA). (2024, May 16). NPPA Conference 2024 | Keynote Lecture | Prof. Paul T. P. Wong | [Video]. YouTube.

Rogers, C. R. (1995). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy (2^nd ed.). HarperOne. (Originally published in 1961)

Ryff, C. D. (2012). Existential well-being and health. In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications (2nd ed., pp. 233–247). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.

Schopenhauer, A. (2020). On the suffering of the world (E. Thacker, Ed.). Repeater. (Originally published in 1851).

Tiago V Faleiro. (2017, March 31). Jordan Peterson – I suffer therefore I am [Video]. YouTube.

Wong, P. T. P. (1979). Frustration, exploration, and learning. Canadian Psychological Review, 20, 133-144.

Wong, P. T. P. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie canadienne, 52(2), 69–81. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022511

Wong, P. T. P. (2019, November 21). Why and How I Developed the Positive Psychology of Suffering. Dr. Paul T. P. Wong. http://www.drpaulwong.com/why-and-how-i-developed-the-positive-psychology-of-suffering/

Wong, P. T. P. (2020, September 24). The unheard cry of a successful Asian psychologist. The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied. https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2020.1820430

Wong, P. T. P. (2021). What is existential positive psychology (PP 2.0)? Why is it necessary for mental health during the pandemic. International Journal of Existential Positive Psychology, 10(1), 1–16. https://www.meaning.ca/ijepp-article/vol10-no1/what-is-existential-positive-psychology-pp-2-0-why-is-it-necessary-for-mental-health-during-the-pandemic/

Wong, P. T. P. (2023a). Pioneer in research in existential positive psychology of suffering and global flourishing: Paul T. P. Wong. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 18, 2153-2157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10207-7

Wong, P. T. P. (2023b, March 16). Hope keeps us moving forward [President’s Column]. Positive Living Newsletter. https://mailchi.mp/meaning.ca/pldt-mar-11967588

Wong, P. T. P. (2024a). Lesson 5 – AEPP02: ABCDE strategy, effective coping, resilience, and multicultural perspective.

Wong, P. T. P. (2024b, March 30). How to say yes to life in the face of suffering and death [President’s column]. Positive Living Newsletter. https://www.meaning.ca/article/how-to-say-yes-to-life-in-the-face-of-suffering-and-death/

Wong, P. T. P., & Bowers, V. (2018). Mature happiness and global wellbeing in difficult times. In N. R. Silton (Ed.), Scientific concepts behind happiness, kindness, and empathy in contemporary society. IGI Global.

Wong, P. T. P., Cowden, R. G., Mayer, C.-H., & Bowers, V. L. (2022). Shifting the paradigm of positive psychology: Toward an existential positive psychology of wellbeing. In A. H. Kemp (Ed.), Broadening the scope of wellbeing science: Multidisciplinary and interdiscipinary perspectives on human flourishing and wellbeing (pp. 13-27). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18329-4_2

Wong, P. T. P., Davey, D., Mayer, C.-H., &Cowden, R. G. (2024, June 27). The emerging paradigm of existential positive psychology and abundant life human flourishing [Paper session]. Regent University Christian Flourishing Summer School, Virgina, US.

Wong, P. T. P., & Gonot-Schoupinsky, F. (in press). Mental health and meaning: a positive autoethnographic case study of Paul Wong. In F. Gonot-Schoupinsky & J. Carson (Eds.), Positive psychology autoethnographic case studies.

Wong, P. T. P., & Roy, S. (2017). Critique of positive psychology and positive interventions. In N. J. L. Brown, T. Lomas, & F. J. Eiroa-Orosa (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of critical positive psychology. London, England: Routledge.

Wong, P. T. P., & Weiner, B. (1981). When people ask “Why” questions and the heuristic of attributional search. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 40(4), 650-663.

Wong, P. T. P., & Worth, P. (2017). The deep-and-wide hypothesis in giftedness and creativity [Special issue]. Psychology and Education, 54(3/4). http://www.psychologyandeducation.net/pae/category/volume-54-no-3-4-2017/

World Science Festival. (2014, August 22). The invisible reality: The wonderful weirdness of the quantum world. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxRfDtaot5U

The post Positive Suffering Mindset: The Key To Flourishing In Turbulent Times appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

Modern human beings face many challenges, whether it be personal conflicts such as an unstable home or more widespread ones such as wars and genocides plaguing the world. Logotherapy has been increasingly found to benefit the victims of many of the world’s displaced: immigrants forcibly displaced from their homes. In 2018 alone, 70.8 million people were forcibly displaced globally (Shirin & Giménez-Llort, 2020) and, by 2023, had increased to a record 114 million people (UNHCR, 2023).

With these growing numbers, it is easy to forget that where there is suffering there is also strength. In the migration process, there is a heightened potential for a reduced quality of life through persecution and loss. Logotherapy proposes that even in extreme circumstances, at their centre, humans can remain resilient. Because logotherapy developed as a multicultural therapeutic approach, it helps to lessen anticipatory anxieties while deflecting negative inner monologues for those struggling with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD). If a terrorist attacked a migrant on public transit, for example, it is understandable that the migrant may have a fear of getting back on a bus or train. However, a logotherapist would point out to their migrant client the number of times the individual used public transportation without any issues (Shirin & Giménez-Llort, 2020). This way of changing a narrative is just one example of why this approach benefits those forced into a new way of life. Embracing the past is the best way to move forward, and once that idea takes hold in someone, rapid growth can follow!

Logotherapy’s foundation of personalizing a shared traumatic experience can help individuals acknowledge the trauma but not dwell on it. In this way, immigrants can release themselves from their trauma and become valued members of society.  For those of us who have never experienced migration-related trauma, we should be prioritizing mental health treatment so that immigrants have the opportunity to share their stories and find communities that benefit them. Not only does this help the persons in treatment find meaning despite their situation, but it helps them feel comfortable sharing their history, customs, and cultures. In this context, being human is the only stipulation for personal growth, and as humans, we should share and celebrate that!

References

Malik, L., & Khurana, H. (2023). Logotherapy: Learnings from the past and relevance in the COVID-19 pandemic. Annals of Indian Psychiatry, 7(3), 288. https://doi.org/10.4103/aip.aip_156_22

Rahgozar, S., & Giménez-Llort, L. (2020). Foundations and applications of logotherapy to improve mental health of immigrant populations in the third millennium. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 11(451). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00451

UNHCR. (2023). Refugee Statistics | USA for UNHCR. unrefugees.org. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/

The post Embracing Change: Logotherapy and its Impact on Immigrant Mental Health appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

Peacebuilding is work on a community, national, and international level to resolve conflict and address peacebuilding strategies for human security, justice, growth, and development (Schirch, 2013). Peacebuilding includes conflict transformation on five levels: personal, relational, spiritual, cultural, and structural. Peacebuilding that includes spiritual healing and growth education leads to individuals and communities living free from fear, oppression, poverty, violence, and hate. Peacebuilding allows people to live with dignity and empowers communities to work together to improve their quality of life.

The concept of peace is dynamic and connected to experiential energy as an agent for harmony and positive change (Abi-Hashem, 2024). Facilitating peacebuilding education can be done through interviews, community meetings, and workshops that promote common ground and community (Schirch, 2013). Spiritual elements in peacebuilding education include mindfulness, compassion, awareness, gratitude, kindness, and spiritual growth. Instilling peace by drawing upon these components increases the desire for communities to respect each other, maintain group harmony, and strengthen communal goals.

Education in peacebuilding should be community-building and incorporate the humanistic values of self-worth, acceptance, mutual understanding, compassion, and respect (Bowers, 2019). These values cultivate partnerships where people maintain accountability and have opportunities for successful transformation and peacebuilding. Humanistic principles in education lead to mutual agreements and peacebuilding leading to conflict resolution and societal change. Peacebuilding strategies that promote common humanity and personal and spiritual transformation contribute to teamwork and cooperation for lasting change and sustainable peace.

Education focused on fostering spiritual healing helps people to understand the ways the world can change and promotes social justice (Lederach, 2004; Bowers, & Wong, 2018). In peacebuilding work, it is important to analyze conflict and learn what people need for conflict resolution (Lederach, 2024). Ethics and social justice are key areas people need to learn that are crucial for everyone. Some people may not feel they have the freedom to voice their concerns or feel safe to express their needs. Spiritual healing can positively impact societies and promote fairness, equality, and social justice.

Peacebuilding transcends challenges when people can develop community spirit and desire spiritual transformation for themselves and others (Lederach, 2004). Education for peacebuilding that includes compassion building can transcend areas of tension and conflict (Schirch, 2013; Neff, 2023). Through compassionate understanding, people can expand their understanding of peace, and what peace means to them as individuals and as a community. Teaching compassion through peacebuilding empowers people to have peaceful mindsets toward unity and common ground. Instilling compassion and hope is the key to conflict resolution and peaceful transformation.

Educating people on meaning-making allows people to gain new insights, share feelings of common humanity, and have faith in the future (Neff, 2023; Lederach, 2004). Peacebuilding education for meaning-making includes promoting spiritual growth, mindfulness, kindness, and compassion. Through meaning-making practice, people gain greater self-awareness, non-judgment, and openness, and develop feelings of compassion. Through community meaning-making experiences, people learn to value diversity, social justice, human rights, freedom, and peace.

Peacebuilding with a spiritual component for spiritual development opens the door to peace that transcends beyond culture and differences (Bowers, 2019) Instilling education in communities of conflict should promote spiritual development where people gain feelings of common ground with others. Spiritual development heals individuals and relationships. People begin to desire peacebuilding towards wellbeing, happiness, and a peaceful way of life. People who develop spiritually can cultivate compassion and become more open to new ideas and possibilities for change and growth.

Education for peacebuilding that teaches awareness is vital for communities. Awareness leads to mindfulness, compassion, and fostering a culture of peace. These attitudes promote community spirit and nonviolent conflict resolution and help depolarize tensions (Schirch, 2013). Teaching awareness gives people tools to consider worldviews different from their own, and the perspectives of others. This is key for people to reflect on their capacities and how they can be harnessed to help themselves and their community. Peacebuilding is successful when people learn to be aware of how they can have a positive impact as individuals and in their relationships with others.

The world needs people to mobilize towards greater harmony, solidarity, resiliency, and peace (Abi-Hasem, 2024). Peacebuilding work with spiritual elements breaks down barriers and builds bridges between people. Education that instills hope, compassion, and kindness and designs a future of peaceful living for communities. Peacebuilding efforts with education for spiritual transformation heal relationships and transcend suffering by giving people feelings of hope, meaning-making, faith, and common humanity. Peacebuilding is the path to healing individuals, relationships, and communities towards greater human flourishing.

References

Abi-Hashem, N. (2006). The agony, silent grief, and deep frustration of many communities in the Middle East: Challenges for coping and survival. In P. T. P. Wong & L. C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress and coping (pp. 457-486). Springer US.

Bowers, V. L. (2019). Transpersonal psychology and mature happiness in the context of counseling. Counseling Psychology Quarterly, 1–11.

Lederach, J. (2004). Little book of conflict transformation: Clear articulation of the guiding principles by a pioneer in the field. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

Neff, K. D. (2023). Self-compassion: Theory, method, research, and intervention. Annual Review of Psychology, 74(1), 193–218. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-032420-031047

Schirch, L. (2013). Conflict assessment and peacebuilding planning: Toward a participatory approach to human security. Kumarian Press.

Wong, P. T. P., & Bowers, V. L. (2018). Mature happiness and global wellbeing in difficult times. Scientific concepts behind happiness, kindness, and empathy in contemporary society. IGI Global Publications.

The post Peacebuilding for Human Flourishing appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Infant Mental Health Specialist, is the Founder and Executive Director of Golden Apple Healing Arts, LLC and its Self-care and Choreosophy Institutes. She is an international expert in salutogenic healthcare and nursing science specifically focused on precision self-care, nurse-herbalism, health culture diplomacy, integrative holistic behavioral health nursing, and healthcare reform. Dr. Libster’s contributions to integrating emerging technologies and healing traditions are demonstrated by two decades of publications, unique educational programs, and inspirational events for thousands of nurses, healthcare providers, and the public on five continents.

In 2006, Dr. Libster founded the Bamboo Bridge Global Tea House in partnership with Sigma Theta Tau  International Honor Society in Nursing. Today, its World Cafés for Conversational Leadership and  Global Tea Houses continue to promote peace through international health culture diplomacy. In 2009,  Mohawk Wisdom Keeper, Mrs. Cecilia Mitchell bestowed upon Dr. Libster the responsibility of “Carrier of the Five Arrows of Hiawatha” which is the story of the Great Peacemaker whose “new mind”  peacemaking solution became the Iroquois Confederacy. She has designed and published four practice models: The Healing Relationship Model for Integrative Nursing Practice, the Cultural Diplomacy Model, the Tao of Integrative Nursing Assessment (TINA) Model, and the Elements of Care^®, which integrates her 27 years of experience in classical Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine and knowledge of the five elements with nursing science in a salutogenic-oriented, energetics first approach to care.

Dr. Libster is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Integrative Nursing and is the author of numerous journal publications, editorials, and eleven books including the award-winning Herbal Diplomats, a history of the women of the 19th-century American botanical healthcare reform movement. Her research and writing demonstrate that nurses’ historical leadership as experts in Self-care and as health culture diplomats in the creation of healing environments in partnership with plants and other elements are well-positioned to address current concerns and advance community health solutions to climate change within and without.

Currently, Dr. Libster is the Director of the state-funded Salutogenesis-Oriented Solutions  (SOS) -Youth Program in Wisconsin, a behavioural mental health workforce development program for nurses who would partner with Asian-American communities using a health culture diplomacy community mental health approach to address the high suicide rates and low sense of belonging in Asian-Wisconsin youth.  Her existentialist approach to this work led her to Viktor Frankl’s and Paul Wong’s inspiring work with youth. She is delighted to join the INPM community and hopes to have a cup of tea with members soon!

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That is when I started to pursue my study of psychology. Currently, I am a counselling psychologist trainee in a gambling addiction centre. Seeing many gamblers and their families struggling in this brutal reality, the pursuit of meaning allows individuals to endure their suffering. Alongside my pursuit as a counselling psychologist, I have also worked in the learning and development field for over 10 years. I also have an interest in human motivation and behaviours. I aspire to advocate the importance of mental wellness, particularly in the corporate field where there are a lot of suppressed emotions and hidden mental health issues. With my experience conducting hundreds of sessions on psychology and mental health, I started an initiative called Mind/Matters to increase mental health awareness in the community.

The post New Member: Catti Lee appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

I began my career as a training manager and consultant, eventually venturing into the fast-food industry as a store owner. A pivotal moment in my journey came when I met Dr. Brian Stiller, the World Evangelical Alliance Ambassador, who opened doors for me at World Relief Canada and Tyndale Seminary. This connection led to my role as Director of Outreach, where I focused on fundraising and building strategic partnerships.

Following a call to serve, I transitioned to the role of Lead Pastor at First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. This position allowed me to lead a vibrant congregation, providing spiritual guidance and support to the community.

I later served as Associate Pastor at Bayview Glen Church in Toronto. This experience provided an opportunity to collaborate with a diverse group of individuals, contributing to the church’s mission and growth. My work involved developing programs and initiatives that supported the church’s vision and expanded its reach within the community.

Driven by a desire to make a broader impact, I founded Fuller Life Church in Toronto. This new endeavour created a welcoming and inclusive space for individuals seeking spiritual growth and connection. Simultaneously, I served as an adjunct professor of Leadership and Theology at Canada Christian University-College and Theological Graduate Studies. For 14 years, I shared my expertise, shaping the minds of future leaders and contributing to their academic and spiritual development.

In 2016, I sought to enhance my training, speaking, and coaching skills further. I became a Maxwell-Certified independent speaker, trainer, and coach, specializing in leadership development. Additionally, I obtained certification as a DISC Behavioral Analysis Consultant and Trainer, equipping individuals with tools to understand and improve their interpersonal dynamics. I also became a licensed MBTI practitioner, helping individuals and teams enhance their personal and professional relationships.

My commitment to elevating leadership practices led me to serve as the Executive Director of the John Maxwell Leadership Enterprise. In this capacity, I endeavour to foster a culture of excellence, empowering leaders to maximize their potential and achieve extraordinary success. Implementing the proven Maxwell Methods of Leadership, speaking, training, and consulting, I help individuals and organizations cultivate their passion for growth and development.

My Friendship with Dr. Paul Wong

I first heard of Dr. Paul Wong during my time at Tyndale University and Theological Seminary. Despite our proximity, we never had the chance to engage in meaningful conversations. It was only until recently, through attending my daughter’s church—which Paul and Lillian also attend—that our paths crossed again. Paul was a founder of the mother church that birthed this current congregation, and our frequent interactions during and after church services have allowed us to develop a genuine friendship.

Our bond has grown quickly, thanks to our open, vulnerable, and transparent conversations. The warm hospitality and graciousness of Paul and Lillian have significantly contributed to the rapid growth of our relationship.

My Delight in Joining INPM

Upon Paul and Lillian’s invitation to join INPM, and after prayerful consideration, I am excited and grateful to become part of such a prestigious organization. I am committed to making meaningful contributions to INPM, leveraging my professional experience and passion for personal meaning to support the organization’s mission. I look forward to collaborating with the esteemed board members and contributing to the success of INPM.

Thank you for considering my application. I am eager to work with all members of INPM and advance our collective goals.

The post New Member: Nelson Kung appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

Social media has become a relentless source of two things: ways you need to improve yourself, and the many accomplishments of your contemporaries. It is eroding our self-efficacy and self-esteem, especially when viewing profiles that have comparatively high activity and indicators of positive health habits (Vogel et al., 2014); it erodes life satisfaction and plunges us into increasing debt (Knight & Gunatilaka, 2009; Christen & Morgan, 2005). Yet, dopamine-driven feedback loops lure us back to those feeds, even after just a few minutes of looking away (Cutillo, 2021).

While SmartFitness technology has shown some health awareness benefits (Hosseini et al., 2023), the fact remains that social media and technology are obscuring positive, purposeful motivation to face new challenges and endeavours. Purpose-oriented psychology, originally crafted by Viktor Frankl, encourages one to seek purpose in life’s challenges and turbulent moments (Frankl, 1966). This brand of therapy, coined logotherapy, is highly effective in boosting self-esteem (Soroush, 2021), and for those in life transitions, such as parents experiencing empty-nest syndrome (Lantz, 1999) and those seeking career guidance (Schulze & Miller, 2004). Frankl envisions this pathway to fulfillment as a paradox: those focusing on happiness will find it elusive; it comes as a function of fulfilling a purpose (Frankl, 1966). Paul Wong expands on this purpose-driven psychology by emphasizing selflessness and virtue not as a direct path to happiness, but as elements to be fused with one’s purpose in life (Wong, 2017).

People engage in self-improvement journeys out of lack of confidence and aspiration to attain status. This can be a hollow, potentially harmful way to achieve self-worth and enrichment. This is a notice that, for some individuals, personal growth can resemble a static state. Rest, contemplation, and exploration of goals and purpose may alleviate the aggravation behind living at the mercy of Apple Watch stats or bank account balances. Consider trees, an archetype of growth: they often don’t move or accumulate but expand to fulfill their purpose of providing the essence of life within their ecosystem. In a society that espouses us to be tigers, lions, wolves, and sharks, perhaps boring old trees are providing us the cues to build a better world.

References

Christen, M., & Morgan, R. M. (2005). Keeping Up with the Joneses: Analyzing the effect of income inequality on consumer borrowing. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 3(2), 145–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11129-005-0351-1

Cutillo, M. (2021). Dopamine-drive feedback loops. What are they? The Outlook. https://outlook.monmouth.edu/2021/03/dopamine-driven-feedback-loops-what-are-they/

Frankl, V. E. (1966). Self-transcendence as a human phenomenon. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 6(2), 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1177/002216786600600201

Hosseini, M. M., Hosseini, S. T. M., Qayumi, K., Hosseinzadeh, S., & Tabar, S. S. S. (2023). Smartwatches in healthcare medicine: Assistance and monitoring; a scoping review. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 23(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-023-02350-w

Knight, J., & Gunatilaka, R. (2012). Income, aspirations and the hedonic treadmill in a poor society. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 82(1), 67–81.              https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2011.12.005

Lantz, J. (1999). Meaning and the post-parental couple. Journal of Religion and Health, 38, 1.

Schultze, G., & Miller, C. T. (2004). The search for meaning and career development. Career Development International, 9(2), 142–152. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430410526184

Sheu, A., & Diamond, T. (2016). Diagnostic tests: Bone mineral density: Testing for osteoporosis. Australian Prescriber, 39(2), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.18773/austprescr.2016.020

Soroush, A., Ziapour, A., Abbas, J., Jahanbin, I., Andayeshgar, B., Moradi, F., Najafi, S., & Cheraghpouran, E. (2021). Effects of group logotherapy training on self-esteem, communication skills, and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) in older adults. Ageing International, 47(4), 758–778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-021-09458-2

Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047

Wong, P. (2017). Integrative meaning therapy: From logotherapy to existential positive interventions. http://www.drpaulwong.com/integrative-meaning-therapy/

The post Standing Still: Finding Growth Through Acceptance and Purpose appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

My journey toward God has led me to years of searching and reflecting through life’s daily challenges, brokenness, and joys. What has brought me to this place in my life is the depth of my life experiences and relationships. Many of those relationships have come and gone swiftly, some stayed a while before moving on, and then there have been a few that have remained close and constant. All have clarified who I am and my place in this world and supported me in my journey to self-realization (for better or worse.)

While I make every effort to live each day in gratitude and joy, the daily events in our communities and around the globe are often filled with conflict, hate, terror, and abuse that cannot be unseen or denied. Those of us who seek hope and long for world peace and harmony struggle to find those connections that lead to meaning, understanding, and compassion. A longing for that meaning has been a way of life for me and has taken on hundreds of ways both personally and in my life’s work, or what I would like to call my last 20 years of “service/ministry.”

As a woman of deep faith in God and humankind, serving the “other” supported my desire to seek connections and understanding and draw on those connections to build inner strength and empathy toward the world and the events around me. What I have learned from service/ministry, especially with young adults, is that they too are seekers of the Divine, seekers of purpose, of meaning and that they care about the “other” in such a way that they make choices to be in the world as people who will step up and be counted. They are not afraid of tomorrow but take a deep dive into “being the change that they seek in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi, 1913). Their resilience, empathy, and strength come from the “other” by reaching out and giving selflessly in love. They want to be that one person in their community and world who can be counted on to care for their neighbours. It teaches them wisdom and it opens their eyes and hearts to find their purpose. It connects them with the Divine in gratitude. Through their hope, I am hopeful; by their belief in humanity, I am a believer; and through their life force, I am ignited to live gratefully, even amidst life’s tragedies, turmoil, and disappointments.

Through the years, I have found ways to connect to the Divine through quiet moments of reflection, prayer, dialogue with self, and with soul/spirit. . . All these connections have given me hope and have increased the strength of my resilience to the world as we/I have experienced it.

Patricia J. Moran has a certificate in Spiritual Direction from a program called RUAH, Hebrew for the Breath of the Spirit. It is rooted in the desert Ammas/mothers and Abba/Father reminding each of us of the physicalness of God’s presence in the world.

Her Spiritual Direction ministry is in Brookline, PA. She is open to phone, online, or in-person sessions. pjmoran53@gmail.com, 412-334-4746

The post Seeking the Divine appeared first on International Network on Personal Meaning.

ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews the recent statistics for youth suicide in North America. It identifies cultural factors that contribute to suicide in minority and international students. These factors include acculturation stress, untreated mental illnesses, lack of culturally-appropriate mental health services, discrimination, language and cultural barriers, a sense of social and spiritual isolation, academic pressure, high expectations from parents and a perceived lack of meaning in life. Warning signs often include a loss of interest in attending classes and taking part in social activities, increases in the use of alcohol and other drugs, and the usual signs of depression,  reckless behavior, skipping classes, and frequent references to the desire to end one’s life. This chapter also reviews the literature on meaninglessness and depression/suicide and then introduces Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy and Paul T. P. Wong’s meaning therapy as effective ways to prevent youth suicide because having reasons for living is logically incompatible with suicide. The life education program in Taiwan also emphasizes meaning in life and cherishing one’s own life, is another promising way to prevent suicide. This chapter concludes that the medical profession needs to learn to be sensitive to cultural and existential issues in college suicides.

Introduction

Jenny Chen was the only daughter and her parents’ pride and joy – an award winning pianist who graduated from high school with the highest mark in the whole province of Ontario. Her parents came to Canada to study and became quite successful; her father was a science professor at a major Canadian university, and her mother was an accomplished pianist. Both felt that it would be best for Jenny Chen to study at an Ivy League school in the United States because of her intellectual and musical gifts. Tragically, she jumped out the window and killed herself less than one year after moving to the States. Two days before she took her life, she visited her school’s counselling services. The counselor who interviewed Jenny reported that she only complained about missing home, losing interest in school, and worrying about not being able to get the grades she used to get. The counselor simply sent her away with a few words of encouragement, because she appeared to be a model Asian student, smart and hard working. Little did the counselor know that Jenny was at the end of her rope, feeling overwhelmed by academic pressure, loneliness, and a crushing sense of shame that she would never meet her parents’ high expectations. She kept her problems to herself and at a moment of overwhelming pain and hopelessness, she saw death as her only way of escape from her predicament. Her brief suicide note said it all: “Dear Mom and Dad: I am so sorry that I have let you down.”

Of course, this was not an isolated case.  Over the past few years, youth suicide has been on the increase; it has become a serious concern to both college officials^1,2,3 and government at both the state and federal levels.^4,5 What makes suicide at the college age so unthinkable and tragic, is that, at this stage of life, youth are supposed to be busy developing their potential and preparing themselves for their future; their suicide constitutes a tragic loss for their families and society. Such loss is completely preventable when the mental health needs of the youth are met. Urgent action by mental health professionals is needed to prevent youth suicides.⁵

Definitions

Cultural diversity will include racial, ethnic, and cultural minority groups, which may intersect with sexual orientation. In other words, within each racial/cultural group, there may be an additional minority status such as, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered.⁶

Suicide is more than a medical issue. It is increasingly seen as a cultural and existential issue as well. Leong and Leach⁷ have found that the phenomenon of suicide often includes the intersection of biological, psychological, cognitive, and social/cultural factors.  Taking one’s own life indicates that one has nothing to live for and no reason for existing; thus, suicide is also an existential issue.⁸

Logotherapy was founded by Dr. Viktor Frankl⁹ and is known as the third Vienna School of Psychotherapy, after Freud and Adler. Frankl focuses on the search for meaning¹⁰ as the primary human motivation rather than pleasure and power, and maintains that the ultimate aim of psychotherapy is to empower clients to discover what makes life worth living in spite of suffering. He emphasizes that meaning, as the essence of our innate spirituality, can be discovered under any circumstances and that one can says “Yes” to life no matter what.  Logotherapy consists of awakening clients’ sense of responsibility to discover meaning in life through a variety of techniques.

Meaning therapy was developed by Dr. Paul T. P. Wong.^11,12 He has extended Frankl’s logotherapy by incorporating relevant aspects of other therapeutic modalities with meaning as the central organizing construct. While logotherapy is primarily philosophical and serves as an adjunct to psychotherapy and a medical ministry to address existential issues, meaning therapy is primarily a full-fledged psychotherapy. Meaning therapy aims at achieving both healing and flourishing through evidence-based interventions. To the extent that meaning is socially constructed, meaning-therapy is inherently multicultural, uniquely suited to cross-cultural counselling.

Objectives

The first part of this chapter presents an overview of suicide risk for college students in the United States and Canada. It highlights the importance of cultural factors in suicide among minority and international students. This chapter pays special attention to suicide in Asian Americans, not only because they have one of the highest suicide rates, but also because there is more research information about this group.^13,14,15,16

The second section of the chapter reviews the risk factors for suicide for both students in general and minority students. I will introduce the concept of perceived meaninglessness as an important risk factor for suicide, because having reasons for living is logically inconsistent with taking one’s own life.  I will introduce appropriate instruments to assess suicide risk.

In the last section, I will recommend strategies for suicide prevention, especially meaning therapy¹² and logotherapy⁹, in working with suicidal youth.  I will also suggest that life education^17,18 at the high school and college levels may be a promising system-wide prevention program.

I conclude that research on cultural diversity in suicide assessment and prevention can contribute to multicultural competence in the practice of psychiatry and counseling with college students.^7,19 I also recommend that mental health professionals be familiar with Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy and Paul T. P. Wong’s meaning therapy as effective ways to prevent suicide.

Recent Statistics on Youth Suicide

The suicide rate of youth has increased dramatically over the past few years.²⁰ The statistics of depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation, as reported in the Spring 2012 Executive Report of the American College Health Association National College Health Assessment, are troubling. During the 12 months prior to the survey, 31.3% of college students surveyed reported feeling so depressed it was difficult to function; 50.7% felt overwhelming anxiety; and 7.1% seriously considered suicide.²¹ It is worth noting that suicide is the 10^th leading cause of death for all Americans, the 2^nd leading cause of death for adults ages 25-34, and the 3^rd leading cause of death for youth ages 15-24. More importantly, suicide is a preventable public health problem.²²

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.²³ In Canada, the statistic is not any better.  According to the Alberta Centre for Injury Control, suicide is the second most common cause of death for Canadians between 15 and 25 years of age. Canada’s major news magazine MACLEAN’S featured college suicide in an article “The Broken Generation.”¹ They reported that a quarter of university-age in Canada will experience a mental health problem, most often stress, anxiety, or depression.

Although suicide affects all youth, some groups are at higher risk than others. Boys are more likely than girls to die from suicide. In the 10 to 24 age group, 81% of the suicides were males and 19% were females. Girls, however, are more likely to report attempting suicide than boys. Cultural variations in suicide rates also exist. Native American/Alaskan Native youth have the highest rates of suicide. In grades 9–12, Hispanic youth were more likely to report attempting suicide than their Black and White, non-Hispanic peers.²⁴ The next section considers the cultural factors in detail.

Cultural Diversity in Suicide:

Shadick and Akhter²⁵ reported that non-Whites endorse a higher rate of distress and suicidal ideation and were less likely to seek help than White students, with Alaska Natives/American Indians, Asian Americans, and multiracial students reporting the highest level of suicidal thoughts. They also found adolescents with same sex attraction were at twice the risk for suicide than opposite sex attracted peers.  For bisexual and transgendered youth, suicide risk may be even higher as they face more discrimination.

According to the Alberta Centre for Injury Control & Research,²⁶ suicide risk is higher among sexual minority youth, who are also more likely to experience homelessness, sexual abuse, isolation, substance abuse, prostitution, and school and family problems. Another study showed that homosexually-oriented young adult males are at 14 times more risk for serious suicide attempts than heterosexual counterparts.²⁷

According to the American Psychological Association (APA) fact sheet on suicide in Asian Americans,²⁸ the suicide rate for Asian Americans aged 15 – 34 was consistent with the national data, however, among all Asian Americans, those aged 20 – 24 had the highest suicide rate (12.44 per 100,000).

Duldulao, Takeuchi, and Hong²⁹ examined the correlates of suicidal ideation, suicide plan, and suicide attempt among Asian Americans. They reported that Among Asian American adults, those aged 18-34 had the highest rates of suicidal thoughts (11.9%), intent (4.4%), and attempts (3.8%) compared to other age groups. They also found Asian American college students were more likely than White American students to have had suicidal thoughts and to attempt suicide. In another study, Chu, Joyce, Hsieh, and Tokars³⁰ reported that as compared to Latinos, Asian Americans with suicidal thoughts were less likely to seek help.

Asian-American youths may carrier the extra burden of their ancestry and parental pressure, compared to other minority students. They are taught that their primary duty is to honor their family and ancestry. The model minority stereotype may drive some Asian students to suicide.^31,32 There are many students like Jenny described in the opening paragraph: Their primary identify is their family and their main purpose in life is to make their parents proud of them.

Contextual Data:

Most of the resources and data are from my professional network, involving leading researchers in cross-cultural and death studies. Some of the statistical information provided here is based on Google research of authoritative sources.

Risk Factors in Suicide

Risk factors are numerous and vary from individual to individual. However, regardless of these individual differences, the common factor is some kind of inner pain that is beyond personal control. That is why Shneidman, the father of suicidology, writes: “Near the end of my career in suicidology, I think I can now say what has been on my mind in a few as five words: Suicide is caused by psychache.”^33(p53) For college students, their “psychache” is often related to difficulties in making the major life transition from adolescence to young adulthood.

College students might be vulnerable to mental illness and suicide, because they are likely to move out from their parents’ home and start life on their own in a new city. Growing up can be very hard for teens who now have to make their own decisions about relationships, sexual freedom, experimenting with alcohol and drugs, and academic and vocational decisions; in addition to assuming new responsibilities, they may go through the heartbreaks of break ups, feelings of isolation and loneliness, and academic and financial pressures, for the first time in their lives. It may be particularly difficult for overprotected Asian students who have to grow up fast to be totally on their own, trying to fit into a much more complex and demanding college life. During this major life transition, without adequate preparation to cope with life’s many new demands, college students may feel overwhelmed and become vulnerable.

Risk Factors for Students in General:

Risk factors come from both external and internal sources. Known factors for suicide among teens include substance abuse and social conflict.³⁴ Victimization and bullying by peers has also emerged as a contributing factor.³⁵ Hopelessness is a closely related emotional disorder that has been proven to be a strong indicator of suicide.^36,37,38,39 Meaninglessness, which includes the absence of life purpose and a sense of significance, is also an important risk factor. 8  Several studies have reported that loneliness is related to suicidal ideation.^39,40,41,42 Academic problems, relationship and family issues, and financial concerns can also be related factors.³⁹

The National Institute of Mental Health has summarized the major risk factors as follows:⁴³

• Depression and other mental disorders, or a substance-abuse disorder (often in combination with other mental disorders). More than 90 percent of people who die by suicide have these risk factors.
• Prior suicide attempt

• Family history of mental disorder or substance abuse
• Family history of suicide
• Family violence, including physical or sexual abuse
• Firearms in the home, the method used in more than half of suicides
• Incarceration
• Exposure to the suicidal behavior of others, such as family members, peers, or media figures

Risk Factors for Minority Students:

International students may face an additional set of risk factors, such as acculturation stress,^44,45,46 prejudice, intercultural conflict or discrimination,^47,48 language/cultural barriers, social and spiritual isolation,^45,46 homesickness,^45,48 conflict with parents,⁴⁸ traumas related to the refugee experience,⁴⁸ financial problems from not being allowed to work outside the academic environment and lack of financial assistance for foreign students,^45,46,49 and a lack of culturally appropriate mental health services.⁴⁶ The stigma of mental health may be another barrier preventing students from seeking mental health services.^46,50 Asian students, because of their model minority stereotype,^31,32 may experience unique sets of risk factors such as the pressure of meeting unrealistically high expectations from parents and the pride of keeping their emotional needs to themselves, as illustrated by the case of Jenny Chen.

Warning Signs:

There are always some warning signs for attempted suicides. Often these warning signs go unnoticed, especially when students are away from their friends and families who know them best and might notice any significant changes in mood or behavior such as social withdrawal, increased anxiety, and inability to cope with the demands of school.

The University of Emory identifies several suicide warning signs.⁴⁵ These include:

• Says things such as, “I don’t deserve to be here,” “I wish I were dead,” “I am going to kill myself,” or “I want to die.”
• Is focused on death and dying
• Talks about wanting to attempt or complete suicide
• Writes poems, letters, or stories about death and/or suicide
• Starts giving away their things
• Prepares for death by making out a will

An Existential Perspective on Youth Suicide:

Suicide represents an existential crisis. I agree with Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy⁹ that the root cause of suicide is existential frustration because of unmet needs for personal significance and meaning. Individuals who attempt suicide must have struggled with some of these existential issues:

• Does anyone care whether I am alive or dead?
• Does my existence make any difference in this world?
• Was my birth a mistake? An unfortunate accident?
• What is the point of striving so hard, when all I get is disappointment and failure?
• With so few resources and so many obstacles ahead, what future do I have?
• Why is growing up so hard? How many heartbreaks and sufferings must I endure?
• Why am I feeling so alone and without any meaningful relationships?
• How long can I carry on this hopeless struggle against the mounting pressures?
• Where can I find happiness, love, and purpose is this harsh world?
• What do I have to live for? What reasons do I have to live?

Major life transition, various kinds of adversities, and one’s own identity crisis can all lead to the quest for meaning.^12,51 Viktor Frankl⁹ considers logotherapy to be a “medical ministry” that is uniquely designed to address existential crisis. Meaning in life serves the double purpose of giving people something to live for and making their suffering more bearable.  Viktor Frankl⁸ was the first psychiatrist to emphasize the vital role of meaninglessness or existential vacuum in causing aggression, addiction, and suicide. Similarly, according to Yalom,⁵² failure to cope with basic existential concerns, such as loneliness, helplessness, and the inherent meaninglessness of the world, may lead to depression and suicide.

There are numerous studies that link meaninglessness to suicidal ideation and actual suicide attempts.  Lester and Badro⁵³ found a negative relationship between self-reported purpose in life and depression, previous suicide attempts and previous and present suicidal ideation in undergraduate students. Edwards and Holden⁵⁴ found that meaning measures were predictive of suicide variables. More recently, Kleiman and Beaver⁵⁵ reported that presence of meaning in life predicted decreased suicidal ideation over time and lower lifetime odds of a suicide attempt.

The dominant medical model would attribute suicide to mental illness and neurotransmitter imbalance,⁵⁶ however, many suicide cases, especially among international students such as the Jenny Chen case, can be better understood in terms of a total lack of meaning to counteract the psychic pain. In other words, from an existential perspective, suicide represents a rational choice given the individual’s life circumstances. “An existence becoming devoid of meaning may increasingly experience suicide as an option, consciously or unconsciously.”^57(p17)

Existential or meaning-oriented psychologists do not pathologize suicide. For example, Binswanger⁵⁸ considers suicide to represent a basic aspect of human freedom.  Farber⁵⁹ considers it a desperate attempt at self-empowerment, when life is devoid of meaning because of personal and socio-cultural factors.⁵⁷ From this perspective, something is terribly wrong in one’s life, but not necessarily due to mental illness.

Suicide Risk Assessments:

Assessment of Risk Factors

There are three types of suicide risks assessments. The first type is based on objectively developed valid and reliable test instruments.  This category includes the Beck Hopelessness Scale⁶⁰ and the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS ®),⁶¹ the Tool for Assessment of Suicide Risk for Adolescents (TASR-A),^62,63 Paladino and Minton’s application of Lazarus’s multimodal BASIC ID to a suicide assessment framework, and the SAD PERSONS scale.⁶⁴

The Beck Hopelessness Scale,⁶⁰ consisting of twenty true/false questions, assesses negative feelings about one’s future, loss of motivation, and pessimistic expectations. A score of 9 or above indicates higher risk of suicide. It is not intended for emergency situations, but can be used to screen for those who might need a more intensive risk assessment.⁶⁵

The Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS ®),⁶¹ consisting of 21 items that are rated on a 3-point scale of suicidal intensity, assesses the immediate intensity of a person’s suicide-related attitudes, behaviours, and plans. This scale has been widely studied and has demonstrated predictive validity for death by suicide. The BSS® is available in multiple languages, including Chinese, French, Norwegian, and Urdu. Special training is needed to use this assessment.

The Tool for Assessment of Suicide Risk for Adolescents (TASR-A)^62,63 assesses immediate suicide risk in youth, using a yes/no checklist. It considers individual risk factors, suicide-related psychiatric symptoms, and acute suicide-related factors (e.g., suicidal intent or plan). It can be used as a summary of risk, but is not designed for prediction or diagnosis.

Paladino and Minton³⁹ have proposed the use of Arnold Lazarus’s BASIC ID model as a framework for holistic and comprehensive suicide assessment. BASIC ID stands for Behavior, Affective Responses, Sensations, Images, Cognitions, Interpersonal Relationships, and Drugs or Biological Influences.

The SAD PERSONS scale⁶⁴ is an acronym used in assessment to cover the major suicide-related risk factors. SAD PERSONS stands for Sex, Age, Depression, Previous attempt, Ethanol Abuse, Rational thinking loss, Social supports lacking, Organized plan, No spouse, and Sickness.

Assessment of Positive Factors

The second type of assessment focuses on the positive factors, such as the Personal Meaning Profile^66,67 and the Reason for Living Inventory,⁶⁸ because the absence of these factors may lead to suicide. A comprehensive assessment should include both positive and negative types of assessments.

Wong’s Personal Meaning Profile (PMP)⁶⁶ is a 54-item questionnaire consisting of seven sources of meaning: Achievement, Relationship, Religion, Self-transcendence, Self-acceptance, Intimacy, and Fair treatment. It is useful to identify areas where students are deficient in perceived meaning. It has good reliability and validity. Scores on the PMP are related to depression and depressive symptoms, such as suicidal ideation.^69,70 MacDonald, Wong and Gingras have also recently developed the 21-item Brief Personal Meaning Profile (PMP-B). ⁶⁷

The Reasons for Living Inventory (RFL)⁶⁸ is a 48-item scale, comprised of 6 subscales, that assesses potential protective factors (e.g., “my family depends on me and needs me”, “I believe only God has the right to end a life”) in those with suicidal ideation. These subscales include survival and coping beliefs, responsibility to family, child-related concerns, fear of suicide, fear of social disapproval, and moral objections. Patients rate each item from 1 to 6, according to its level of importance in not killing themselves.

Direct Questions

The third type of assessment is to confront potential suicidal patients with direct and simple questions, such as, “Are you thinking about suicide?

According to the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, we need to pose these direct questions to suicidal patients:

• Are you thinking of suicide?
• Have you thought about Suicide in the last two months?
• Have you ever attempted to kill yourself?

The Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments⁷¹ also lists such questions as

• Do you have any hope for the future?
• Do you ever have thoughts of death?
• If you died in your sleep, would that be all right with you?
• Have you ever thought of killing yourself?
• Have you formulated a plan for committing suicide?
• What stops you from trying to kill yourself?

Recommended Preventions

Garland and Zigler²⁰ review the current epidemiological research in adolescent suicide and suggest how this knowledge could be used more effectively to reduce the rate of adolescent suicide. They recommend integrated primary prevention efforts, suicide prevention education for professionals, education and policies on firearm management, more efficient identification and treatment of at-risk youth, crisis intervention, and treatment for suicide attempters. In addition to individual counseling, The American Psychological Association (APA)²⁸ suggests various protective factors, including the family and community.^72,73

Emory University also lists several preventative factors,⁴⁵ including:

• Friends, family, and supportive significant others
• Strong social-support network
• Responsibilities/duties to others
• Pets
• Opportunities to participate in and contribute to school and/or community projects/activities
• A reasonably safe and stable living environment
• Spiritual well-being
• Religious involvement
• Restricted access to firearms or other lethal methods
• Access to physical and mental health services

At present, the internet has become a preferred place where suicidal students seek help.⁷⁴ There are several online sources; most of them are related to some university. ULifeline (http://www.ulifeline.org/) is also a general online resource for college students where they can do self-assessment and find information on mental health issues and suicide prevention. On a smaller scale, many individual universities support a variety of student organizations that address mental health issues. These universities sponsor a variety of suicide prevention workshops and awareness weeks to continuously work towards improving student outreach.

Goldston and colleagues⁷⁵ emphasize the need for culturally sensitive and community-based interventions along with future opportunities for research in intervention development and evaluation. It is important that practitioners at the counseling services of all campuses are trained in assessment and intervention with minority students. In Jenny Chen’s case, the counselor who saw her the day before her suicide did not detect the seriousness of her condition. She might have been partially blinded by the model minority syndrome that Jenny was a smart student capable of handling her personal problems. Mental health professionals need more education in cross-cultural competence in order to be more effective in helping suicidal students from diverse cultural backgrounds.^19,76

In terms of individual counselling, meaning-oriented therapy seems to be the logical choice in addressing the problem of suicide. Frankl has emphasized that logotherapy can “wrest meaning from life by turning suffering into a human triumph.”^77(p64) It makes perfect sense that if we can restore the clients’ reason for living and turn their psychic pain into a passport to character strength, we can prevent their suicides.  In fact, such logic has been supported clinically. Viktor Frankl set up youth counseling centers in Vienna for college students. He was able to use logotherapy to reduce the annual youth suicide rate in Vienna to zero.^78,79

Life Education in Taiwan represents a curriculum-based approach to preventing suicide. Life Education curriculum was developed as a response to the alarming youth suicide rate after the devastating earthquake on September 21, 1999. The Department of Education has mandated that Life Education be taught at all levels of public education. The main purpose of Life Education is to teach students how understand the meaning of life and how to cherish their own lives.⁸⁰ After reviewing the literature on Life and Death Education in North America and Asia, Chang Sue May⁸¹ makes a compelling case that Life Education as an integral part of school curriculum is a logical answer to the problem of youth suicide.  (The fact that I have been invited to keynote at the Life Education Conference three times in Taiwan provides concrete evidence that meaning therapy and Life Education are natural allies in promoting meaningful living as the antidote to taking one’s own life.)  However, empirical research is urgently needed to demonstrate the efficacy of education on life’s meaning in preventing suicide.

In conclusion, college suicide represents a serious problem that affects not only students, but also their families, and communities. Cultural minority status is one of the risk factors.  Suicide is not only a medical problem, but also a cultural and existential issue. Therefore, prevention calls for concerted efforts involving the medical profession, different levels of government, higher education counseling services, ethnic communities, Life Education, and families.  The existential perspective provides a helpful framework for preventing suicide at both the individual and system-wide education levels.  Empirical research is needed to determine the efficacy of various approaches to suicide prevention. On the one hand, we need to work towards reducing the stigma of mental illness in order to encourage college students with emotional problems to seek professional help. On the other hand, we need to work towards reducing cultural and language barriers and increasing the cultural competency of mental health professionals. Nothing less than open exchange of information and integrative collaboration can reverse the high rate college suicide.

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