The quest for meaning

The need to integrate experience and find a direction for one’s life are key elements in the search for meaning. Disturbances in personal history can cause the formation of a system of defense mechanisms characterized by their vigorous tendency towards dissociation. As an obstacle to the unification of the personality and the realization of its totality, dissociation leads to a painful feeling of meaninglessness. The author explores the theorization of this phenomenon by Bion, Jung, and certain post-Jungians, in addition to the effects of transgenerational transmission of a lack of meaning.