By Sarah Marin
Have you ever heard of the delusion of reprieve? Viktor E. Frankl defines it in his book Man’s Search for Meaning as a psychological condition—where a condemned person experiences the illusion of being reprieved at the last moment. I do not consider it a psychological condition but rather a psychological phenomenon. In order for it to be classified as a condition, it must meet certain criteria, and in this case, it is more accurately described as a phenomenon whose origin is difficult to explain or fully understand.
Frankl discusses this phenomenon to illustrate the shreds of hope that he and the other captives experienced while imprisoned in Auschwitz. He lived to tell his story and, in great detail, describes the inhumanity to which he and others were subjected. Within those walls, he highlights the basic, unconscious human tendency to maintain hope, even when circumstances appear hopeless.
Even in the midst of extreme suffering, human beings tend to hold onto a fragment of hope—what Frankl calls the “delusion of reprieve.” Though it may appear irrational, this hope reflects something fundamental about the human spirit: the refusal to fully surrender to despair. While psychologists might label it a delusion—an unrealistic belief in salvation despite overwhelming evidence—Frankl invites us to see it differently. Through an existential lens, this inner hope becomes a form of psychological resistance, a quiet assertion of freedom when all external freedoms have been stripped away. It is this capacity for inner freedom, even in the most dehumanizing conditions, that Frankl sees as central to human survival and meaning.
In clinical psychology, a delusion is understood as a fixed false belief that persists despite clear evidence to the contrary. Frankl’s “delusion of reprieve” reflects this type of unconscious illusion—an irrational hope of escape from inevitable circumstances. However, his broader existential psychology emphasizes that individuals can possess an inner freedom that cannot be taken away, even under the harshest conditions. Unlike a clinical delusion, practices such as releasing from the ego or cultivating detachment through mindfulness are conscious ways of rising above suffering and finding meaning. This is true even in circumstances that are profoundly destructive, when it may seem impossible to find any meaning, such as the experiences of those who endured the Holocaust.
Even in the face of overwhelming reality, this psychological phenomenon reveals something deeply human: the need to believe that circumstances can change. Hope—no matter how irrational it may seem—is often what allows people to endure the unendurable. Frankl may call it a “delusion,” but without this fragile belief that things might improve, what else would sustain us?
Le Commune Review 
Leave a comment