The pathogenesis of mental disorders

an update of logotherapy

Elisabeth Lukas

pp. 127-130

in: Alexander Batthyány (ed), Logotherapy and existential analysis, Berlin, Springer, 2016

Abstract

In this brief chapter, an update of the classical classification of mental disorders in Frankl's school of psychotherapy, logotherapy, and existential analysis, is suggested. The proposed change takes account of recent findings on the multiple causal factors contributing to mental disorders, including neurobiological and genetic factors, without losing sight of psychogenesis. The suggested update keeps Frankl's core conceptions intact; however, it brings logotherapy's theoretical underpinnings, and especially its nosology, in line with current thinking in clinical psychology.