Postmodernism emerged in the 20th century as a reaction against the supposed utopias of modernism. It values feeling more than reason. It considers that it is not possible to improve society, so there is only room for man's self-realization focused on enjoying the pleasurable present.

The change of culture between generations often favors existential crises. When the old mental schemes no longer work, the person becomes disconcerted and can enter into a crisis.

Every man asks himself what is the meaning of his existence. He needs to find reasons to live. The meaning of life is result of a process that begins with the primary socialization in the family environment. What happens when this process stops? It happens that there is a great risk of falling into the pit of an existential crisis. Seeing that his existence is deprived of a meaning that makes it worthy of being lived, man feels an inner emptiness and a frustration that distresses him.

In some cases this state is the consequence of having tried to justify existence in itself, apart from its transcendent dimension. Whoever does not respect the mystery of being ends up in absurdity and nothingness.

The inner emptiness is often felt in a special way during the weekends. As long as work fills most of the time available there is no room for feelings of emptiness; on the other hand, when work ends, hidden frustrations often surface. Melancholy then appears as a symptom of the inability to face life's challenges.

This problem can be observed at any age, but especially from adolescence onwards, when people start to become interested in their identity. Many parents believe that existential frustration is simply a passing phase of adolescence, ignoring that it can be something deeper and longer lasting.

Some adolescents and young people today often suffer from a growing disenchantment with life, which is an expression of their inner emptiness. To make up for this emptiness, they take refuge in harmful and dangerous escapes: alcohol, drugs, radical ideologies, high-risk activities, etc. They lack the courage to be alone and to find themselves in an atmosphere of exterior and interior silence. The ostrich tactic is a self-deception that not only does not solve problems, but increases them. Every time we put our head under the wing we need to keep it longer in that position.

The culture of postmodernism replaced the consistent with the banal. It is a decadent culture that provoked in man a new individualism that only abides by the "law of desire". This "law" establishes that whatever I do is good if I want to do it. What would give it a guarantee of goodness is that it emanates directly from my desire; by that simple fact it would be justified in itself, without a contrast with the moral rule being necessary. The only rule is the absence of any rule. This is what the "morality of tolerance" consists of.

The man who accepts this pseudoculture curbs his "will for meaning" (V. Frankl), since he becomes a hedonistic narcissist. What is the best formula to help this man to recover the meaning of life?

Crises of inner emptiness must be faced not by way of evasion, but of overcoming them. Human life is an ethical test ; accepting it is what makes life meaningful for man. This principle is the basis of Logotherapy, a psychological technique centered on the sense and meaning of life.

Logotherapy applies a theory that - unlike others - values not only the psychophysical dimension of the person, but also the spiritual one. It was devised by V. Frankl after surviving (physically and psychically) the Nazi concentration camps where he was interned. The method that saved him was to distance himself mentally from the harsh events he lived through and to rely on his faith in God and his family. (From a Christian perspective it is easier to practice a humanism that assimilates both the positive and the negative aspects of life).

 The therapist-consultant relationship is centered on the "meeting staff " and on an ethic respectful of the rights of the consultant. During the existential dialogue (which is often subject Socratic), the "will to meaning" is mobilized and new possibilities are identified towards the finding of the meaning of life.