Frankl argued that unlike Freud's focus on pleasure or Adler's focus on power, humans are driven by a "will to meaning" even in the most dire conditions.

Frankl observed that prisoners in concentration camps who maintained a sense of future purpose were significantly more likely to survive than those who gave up hope.

By wishing for the very thing they fear, patients can break the cycle of anticipatory anxiety and gain a sense of detached humor regarding their symptoms.

Tragic optimism suggests that one can remain hopeful by turning suffering into achievement, guilt into change, and death into an incentive to take responsible action.