Die Suche nach Sinn

by James T. Webb, Catherine Hornung (Translator)

Intelligente, wissbegierige Idealisten sehen sich häufig mit schmerzvollen Enttäuschungen und quälenden Sinnfragen konfrontiert. Die Suche nach Antworten kann zu einer existenziellen Depression führen. Dieses Buch hilft Betroffenen dabei, sich selbst und ihr Denken zu verstehen, und es zeigt Strategien auf, wie sie ihre Desillusionierung bewältigen und ihren Idealismus in positive, sinnstiftende und erfüllende Bahnen lenken können.
•Woher kommt Idealismus?
• Neugierige, intelligente Menschen wollen mehr wissen
• Desillusionierung und Depression
• Bewusstheit und Akzeptanz
• Ungesunde und gesunde Coping-Strategien im Umgang mit Illusionen
• Hoffnung, Glück und Zufriedenheit

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Philosophy, Self Help, Parenting, Mental Health

180 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2013

About the author

James T. Webb, Ph.D., has been recognized as one of the 25 most influential psychologists nationally on gifted education. Dr. Webb has written 16 books, over 75 professional publications, three DVDs, and many research papers for psychology conventions or for conferences regarding gifted and talented children. Six of his books are on gifted children and adults, and four have won “Best Book” awards.

• Guiding the Gifted Child: A Practical Source for Parents and Teachers - which won the National Media Award of the American Psychological Association as the best book for "significantly contributing to the understanding of the unique, sensitive, emotional needs of exceptional children.”
• Grandparents’ Guide to Gifted Children – winner of two awards
• Misdiagnosis and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults: ADHD, Bipolar, OCD, Asperger’s, Depression, and Other Disorders – winner of three awards
• Gifted Parent Groups: The SENG Model, 2nd Edition
• A Parent’s Guide to Gifted Children – winner of three awards
• Searching for Meaning: Idealism, Bright Minds, Disillusionment, and Hope


A frequent keynote and workshop speaker, Dr. Webb, a licensed psychologist, has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, The Phil Donahue Show, CNN, Public Radio International, and National Public Radio.

In 1981, Dr. Webb established SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of Gifted Children, Inc.), a national nonprofit organization that provides information, training, conferences, and workshops, and he remains as Chair of SENG’s Professional Advisory Committee. In 2011, he was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arizona Association for Gifted children, the Community Service Award from the National Association for Gifted Children, and the Upton Sinclair Award by EducationNews.org.

Dr. Webb has served on the Board of Directors for the National Association for Gifted Children, and was President of the American Association for Gifted Children. Currently, Dr. Webb is President of Great Potential Press, Inc.

Reviews

[Steffan Bard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every once and awhile I read a book which goes down on the list of "books I wish I had in my hands much earlier." This became one of those books for me.

Some other books on that list for me includes books like Quiet by Susan Cain, The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron (I'm currently reading this one though but can already tell), The Myth of Certainty by Daniel Taylor and Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey.

What all these books have in common is that they explained my own story to me. Not that I have not been ignorant of my own experiences or story, but mostly that I have been deeply aware of it and have felt painfully alone. These books have truly been medicine to my soul. I have had my experiences validated, been let known (against my suspicions for most of my life) that I'm not actually crazy or weird and have thus been allowed to accept myself, my unique gifts and personality.

Because of the effect these books had on me as far as self acceptance and the relieving of the incessant sense of guilt I can feel for being "different" in these ways, my whole life and especially relationships (to self, others and God) have been changed for the better.

Webb is one of those authors I will remain indebted to for bringing out, explaining, understanding and validating my human experiences.

For people who feel different because of their idealism and intelligence (though I struggled to even see myself, or allow myself to acknowledge myself, as intelligent before I read this book) this book will be medicine to your soul.

This is one of those books I never knew I needed to read, but once I did find it and read, I couldn't be more glad that I did.

[Rob Vitaro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite its promise, I find this book utterly devoid of hope.

I will first say that the detailed information on bright people's propensity for being sensitive, regularly experiencing disillusionment, and wanting to live a life that matters all rang true for me; it's nice to know there are others like me. However, I can't get past his premise/conclusion that bright minds suffer because they eventually figure it out - life IS meaningless. (No evidence to back up this conclusion, mind you.)

As a former student of psychology I was familiar with many of Webb's references. As an objective thinking person, I follow his logic: meaning in life has to be sought after. But he begins his entire logic argument with a false premise: life is absurd, pointless, and any meaning you experience is an illusion you have to create for yourself. I'm sorry, but that's not hope, that's just lying to yourself. Because I am a Christian, I believe life has intrinsic meaning, and it can be sought from the One who gave me life. Webb would say I am believing my illusion. Fine, I guess it's a stalemate, because neither can prove the other one is wrong. But I argue that knowingly choosing to believe in what you know is an illusion is NOT HOPE, it's actually rather crazy.

I was looking for some cognitive techniques to help combat my negative thoughts during existential angst, and there may be something in there, but I think I need to revisit this when I'm not going through it.

Deeply disillusioned with the promise of the book.

Wait, was that point?

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

In chapter 6, Webb has a collection of exercises to help the reader get to know herself better. One of these is called "role stripping." The idea is to identify and rank your five most central roles, then, going from least central to most, imagine stripping the roles away one by one, asking after each role falls away who you are and what your life is like without that role.

The evening after I'd read this chapter---but not done the exercises---I dreamed that I was cleaning an empty house. I carried the vacuum from room to room, sweeping the floors and sucking the cobwebs from where the ceiling and walls met, all the while terrified of looking behind me, sure that although I was alone, I would see someone behind me and that someone would not be friendly. I thought, "You know, I probably don't need to clean the basement," and I could almost hear the presence laughing malevolently at my growing terror.

So, I think that without even doing the exercise, I've got a bit of insight at least into how I feel about confronting myself sans roles.

Nightmares aside, this was a decent book. It didn't blow my mind or anything, but I have been wondering for the past couple of years what good it does me as an adult to have been labeled "gifted" as a child, and Webb's book does help me to better understand the full scope of giftedness (often obscured by misunderstanding and the unfortunate word choice---"gifted." Sure, some gift) and how that influences how I see the world and interact with others.

It's a little light on practical suggestions (Meditate. Journal. Exercise. Drink in moderation. Why didn't I think of that?) and relies rather more heavily on "positive psychology" than I'd prefer. (The quotation marks are meant to indicate not snark but skepticism about the discipline and the way it's often used to try to shut down (and shut up) people with dispositional depression.) But then, it is a "self-help" book (those are snark quotes), and backing positive psychology seems to be part of the rubric for that genre.

Now that I'm done reading the book, I'm going to risk the bad dreams and go through some of the exercises and see where that gets me (with the exception of the coat of arms because I'm no longer in third grade).

[Patricia Mauerhofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! I'm stunned and still digesting. Will come back an do a proper review, for now, but this is one of the best books I read so far on how bright minds are 'blessed' and have to face a 'dark' side of this blessing in many cases as well. GEt this book and read slowly through at - as it will make you think and realise yet other layers about the meaning and complexity of life and your struggle to find a place and a way to contribute.

This analysis AND workbook with very concrete tools and coping strategies is a must read if you think a lot (and fast and in all directions) and feel deeply and have been concerned with the suffering you see in this world since your were small. Find out how you make yourself suffer because of your idealism and how to turn disillusionment into hope and finding a calling and concrete ways to do something to contribute to make this world a better place.

[Amalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't offer what I was hoping for. I was looking for cognitive techniques to fight off the negative thoughts during the existential crisis which I was going through the time I started to read this.

I had my struggle with self acceptance (which means not feeling belonged anywhere and to be okay with it). I don't want to continue to feel special or bright or gifted, just simlpy want to find a way to make peace with my constant struggles with idealism, negative thoughts leading to depression etc. etc. This didn't help me with that.

[Amanda Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written for people who are bright, above average intelligence. I'm not saying that bright people are better, just that bright people often have different thought processes and worries than others. This book addresses this beautifully. It helped me very much and helped me help my son. It helps you understand your thoughts and feelings and then gives you practical things you can do to get yourself out of a mindset of hopelessness. I can't recommend this book more.

[Julian Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an intellectually gifted individual, you often struggle with existential questions about the meaning of life that many others – even other gifted individuals – do not seem to struggle with. You are frequently told that you “think too much” but at the same time, you cannot help it; wondering about your purpose on this planet is something that you frequently contemplate, and the topic often causes you much distress. If you are one of these people, like I am, this is the book for you. I was fortunate to be classified as intellectually gifted early in my life so at least I didn’t live through many years of not knowing why I was different than many of my peers, but having such a categorization never made the existential questions go away. Dr. Webb’s book is the first one I’ve read that normalizes these questions and explains why gifted people are more likely to pursue answers to them, why a gifted person’s overexcitabilities in one or more areas are likely to cause existential distress, what ineffective coping mechanisms gifted people often use to try and manage their distress, and what coping mechanisms he believes are actually effective.

The book is less than 200 pages and written in a very straightforward style for the layperson and not clinicians, so it’s definitely worth a read if you are a gifted person who falls into this category. Webb introduces the concept of “idealism” early – that is, believing you know what is good, right, and just – and explains why depression and anxiety often arise in individuals from the disillusionment and loneliness of frequently realizing that the world and others in it often fall short of these ideals. Not every child becomes an idealist, and certainly not every gifted individual becomes one either. But gifted people are more likely to do so because they often think in broader systems than non-gifted people and see the art of the possible: how the world could become much more humane and humans could be kinder to one another, and yet how others seem to consistently fall short. I had never thought of myself as an idealist in this way (because the word is often used synonymously with optimism, and I don’t think they are the same thing) but Dr. Webb’s definition made a lot of sense to me and I identify with it.

Gifted people often develop their moral compass beyond the level of conforming to traditions that is common among non-gifted people. Non-gifted people are often comfortable equating good behavior with whatever pleases the “in group”, be that their families, work environments, or society. Their sense of right and wrong is based upon internalized fixed rules centered on maintaining social order, the rule of law, and unwritten social norms, and they are happy to conform to such rules. Gifted people, while not immediately rejecting such rules out of hand, go beyond this level in their development, questioning many aspects of rules and norms and believing that there is a set of moral values that transcend simple authority or opinions. Sometimes their beliefs transcend conventional views and this causes great unhappiness and conflict with others. Yet no great change in the world has come about without such questioning. “Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong, but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.” is the apt epigraph from Thomas L. Friedman that adorns this section of the book.

Armed with idealism and Dąbrowski’s overexcitabilities, gifted individuals often attempt to seek consistency and routine in their lives, to try and impose a sense of order and control over their world that they understand is inherently unpredictable. Hence the anxiety-inducing search for a “rules of life” beyond those imposed by family, religion, work environment, etc. Gifted people often succeed to some degree in establishing such rules, but sooner or later there is some major breach or violation of these rules, typically by external sources (e.g. societal changes, death of a loved one, loss of a job, etc.) that creates immense distress and questioning. This is what Dąbrowski calls a disintegration, which is in essence the loss of a previous system of illusion. It presents an opportunity for a positive disintegration in which the individual moves beyond the destruction of this illusion and can reintegrate at a higher level (reorganizing one’s personality and values to become more psychologically resilient) but unfortunately it’s also possible for the individual to reintegrate at the same level: rather than making choices for the future that emphasize aspects of themselves that are more authentic & based on their “ideal” personality, they make no such choices and continue with the way things were.

The last part of the book is dedicated to examining coping styles that individuals often use to avoid facing illusions (and a positive disintegration that might result) as well as coping styles that are healthier. In the end, Webb finds that there are really three choices for how one should think about life, cope with disillusionment, and existential questions: (1) Believe that life really is meaningless (the Nietzsche / Camus approach); (2) Believe that life has a meaning, but that you just need to discover the meaning (a religious approach); or (3) Believe that life can have meaning, but that meaning is only what you choose to give to it. I don’t find that the boundaries between these three are significantly bright. Webb says that he personally chooses approach #3, but understands others choosing the others.

Webb’s book on the whole is excellent. My only complaint about it is that he can’t seem to agree with himself on whether illusions are good or bad. On one hand, one could argue that a gifted person’s moral compass is a system of illusions, just one that they have set up for themselves so that they are not constantly questioning their day-to-day existence. Webb states that healthy coping styles for life go beyond illusions, yet techniques such as compartmentalization could be regarded as illusion-creation by another name (hiding information from one part of your life from another). He also chooses to use a quote from Woody Allen in one of his epigraphs that states one has to keep selling oneself a bill of goods in order to keep one’s spirits up, and if you face reality too much, it kills you. So his overall perspective on illusions was confusing to me.

[Margreet · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must-read for gifted individuals who, like me, struggle with existential depression and disillusionment. Webb is an authority when it comes to giftedness and his profound understanding of gifted individuals in all their colourful diversity jumps from the page. This book provides an understandable summary of research (both Webb's own and that of others) on idealism and giftedness as well as insights in coping mechanisms and, most importantly, it provides more than enough basis for a sense of hope and meaning in life.

This book does not provide you with easy answers about the meaning of life (which most gifted people wouldn't accept anyway) but rather challenges you to give meaning to your own life in a way that works best for you. Written with kind compassion, respect for individual beliefs and a good sense of humour. This goes straight to the "best books I have ever read" list.

[Meteorite_cufflink · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that deserves its status as a foundational text on the issue. Written in a clear and factual style, "Searching for meaning" balances a rational message with compassion and hope. Don't be put off by the cover like I was!

[Roos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most horrible book cover ever in the history of book covers.

HOPE!!!!!

[Dr.Given · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally started reading this book to help me in my work with students identified as gifted. I gained many helpful insights and resources to generate positive conversations with other teachers about the intensities and quirks of our gifted student population. We are struggling to understand and support a growing number of adolescents struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, and depression. Searching for Meaning provided the theoretical background to understand how gifted brains tend to be both more idealistic and more susceptible to disillusionment than typical thinkers. I also found this book to be instructive in helping me to understand some of the highly gifted adults I work with and hope that by sharing this book, it will be useful to adults as well as my middle school students. Mostly, I appreciated Dr. Webb’s ability to make a complex topic accessible and interesting while elevating my understanding and reflection of my own experiences as an educator and as a person.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I didn't find it mind-blowing by any means. I thought that the first half was pretty repetitive and boring. The second half had some interesting self-reflection exercises and grouped together (un)helpful coping mechanisms that I've been (un)learning in therapy for several years now. I liked the lessons from positive psychology and the overall positive outlook the book left me with.

I'm not sure there's much for you in it if you're already a therapy veteran or if you're at least familiar with pop-psychology.

While this one was specifically recommended as a self-help book for gifted people, I don't think the take-aways are only limited to gifted adults who suffer from existential depression.

[Elijah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was really looking forward to this one and was quite disappointed. The genre of self-help has never not disappointed me, I still thought this one might be different. It really wasn't, the same generalised helpful stuff encased by repetitions etc.
I don't fault the book, it just wasn't for me and that's okay.

[Arno Callens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful if not as helpful as I thought it would be. Nevertheless a worthy read for bright people suffering from an existential crisis, if you don't expect all the answers to your questions or an acknowledgment of your views.

[Sippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times wise and insightful and at times shallower than I would've liked. 3.5 stars

[Manon · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some good parts in it but overall it didn’t touch me.

[oskar · Rating 5 out of 5]

personally, very insightful!

[Catana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best for those just starting along the path of self-understanding. Tends to be somewhat simplistic, in the mode of the average self-help book, and is extremely repetitive.

[Ken Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars. An interesting book that I wish I had in my 20s but is still good in my 50s. Minus a half star for not taking on more directly social constructs of "bright."

[Cheyenne Nijboer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheaper than therapy but the conclusions were kinda meh

[Margot · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource to understanding and hopefully helping, those gifted, bright individuals who are dealing with disillusionment and loss of their ideals. To the author, and to those caring for such individuals, I would add the following, based, as you can probably tell, from personal experience with a loved one.

1. Age. Consider the stage of brain development of the bright individual, as this affects the way they process information, and therefore, the differences between what they will understand and accept at say, age 21, vs. age 25.

2. Health Issues. Specifically low thyroid and sleep apnea. If anyone, gifted or not, is experiencing prolonged depression, their complete medical condition should be evaluated, particularly thyroid. A full spectrum of thyroid testing should be carried out, as low thyroid is so very often not diagnosed, and yet its symptoms include depression, weight gain, and cognitive loss.

3. Time for grieving. The bright individual who is experiencing this existential depression will likely be unable to 'snap out of it.' Remember, that, as described in this book, this type of depression is related to disillusionment and loss of ideals. This bright individual, typically young, especially young adult, is now facing a profound loss - both internally (they aren't going to be the best at everything) and externally (the world is not the place they thought it was). They need time to process this profound loss, and time to grieve/mourn this loss. This may take years, as in the case of my loved one.

4. Inappropriate and/or ineffectual treatment with antidepressants and/or other mood/thought disorder medications. Perhaps your experience will differ, but in the case of my bright loved one, the experience of going through the typical trial and error process of medicating depression was disheartening. How much better it would have been if the caregivers and professional treatment providers had been familiar with this book by Dr. Webb, so that we could have approached treatment in a more effective manner.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book simply didn't offer what I was hoping for. I expected a somewhat more scholarly look at why Giftedness and depression (among other mental disorders) are so highly correlated and some strategies that are better suited for Gifted individuals. Without footnotes or citations in the main text, the entire work read like an opinion piece based on Dr. Webb's (admittedly clinical) experience. While there were citations at the end of the book, it was difficult to distinguish anecdote from data, making it hard to know if I actually learned anything useful or got a placebo.

The book does detail some short and long term coping mechanisms. Webb carefully states that these have different levels of usefulness and efficacy. While he groups them by whether they are likely to produce long term change, I appreciated him not over-simplifying and acknowledging that we can't work on everything at once; sometimes we have to get through this week, this day, this hour. There were also many passages with emotional resonance for me as a Gifted person, allowing me to see more of my personal history through a Gifted lens.

Overall, I came away from this book feeling like it was too superficial for the intended deep-thinking audience. Some helpful strategies were detailed but it read as so anecdotal that a person interested in long term change would likely need to use this as a discussion tool with their own therapist.

[Skylar Burris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more from this book. It was a bit simplistic and repetitive. The author spent a lot of time saying, over and over again, that bright people tend to be more easily disillusioned than others and that disillusionment often leads to depression. While he described that disillusionment well enough, a much smaller portion of the book was devoted to suggestions for dealing with it. There was a decent list of “what” to do, but the book was quite short on the “how” to do it. Some of the suggestions were worth reflecting on and trying, while others seemed a bit banal (like designing your own coat of arms).

[Tacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was already checked out to someone when I requested it online, so I had to wait, and wait for it. Sadly, it was just too philosophical for my needs at this time and did not live up to my hopes. I do wish the library system offered some "match.com" type of program so that I could meet other families who struggle with the issues addressed in this book. You cruel privacy laws!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is truly helpful. I think every therapist should own it.

[E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Simplistic and banal, full of moronic platitudes, absolutely brainless.