"Man's Search for Himself" by Rollo May is a worthwhile read that examines the problems facing modern Western mankind through the lens of Existential Psychotherapy, a form of psychotherapy whose practitioners didn't just prescribe drugs for things like anxiety and loneliness, but believed that examining these issues at their root, uncovered people experiencing crisis's of being, or existing that was in conflict with the world around them.

Although the book was written in the 1950's, much of what Rollo May had to say still rings true today. If you take a look around and really examine the world critically, you'll see the myriad ways by which his analysis's hit their mark. From therapist and psychologist that over-prescribe drugs, to the loneliness and anxiety that affects a large portion of the population like a virus, and this when we are living in an era of technology that promised to connect us to one other like never before, and gadgets and entertainment that our ancestors could only have dreamed of in their time. According to the experts, in 2020, we are living in the time of the greatest wealth, material abundance, peace, and human development in the history of humankind.

And yet, deaths of despair, drug addictions, inequality, and shrinking opportunities for a good life are shrinking, at least in the USA. The why for the contradictory world we live in are many, and after reading this book, May offers that the central conflict facing individuals living in the modern world is one of the self.

This is ultimately what is at the heart of "Man's Search for Himself". May explains how it is that we, living in the modern era, came to be lost to ourselves, how we can rediscover ourselves, and why we should strive to become ourselves. May lays out his arguments precisely and at times repetitively. If you've read Erich Fromm the repetition of ideas will be even more glaring. Fromm is a step above May though, not that May is bad, he's not, he's able to break down complex ideas clearly and with enough clarity that the reader will have plenty of parallels between what he is saying and the reality we exist in.

"Man's Search for Himself", is broken up in the following sections:
Part 1: Our Predicament
     a) The Loneliness and Anxiety of Modern Man
     b) The Roots of our Malady
Part 2: Rediscovering Self-hood
     a) The Experience of Becoming a Person
     b) The Struggle to Be
Part 3: The Goals of Integration
     a) Freedom and Inner Strength
     b) The Creative Conscience
     c) Courage, The Virtue of Maturity
     d) Man, The Transcender of Time

Rollo May draws upon a wide variety of sources from Greek myths such as Oedipus to more contemporary literature like Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman; to the dream analysis of his patients; to philosophers like Descartes and Nietzsche; to the biblical stories of Adam & Eve; and historical periods in human development. May deftly sews this panarama of wide-ranging sources together forming a solid foundation for his dissection of modern humans and the inner conflicts that we find ourselves struggling with everyday.

One of the earliest points that he makes is that people of the modern age are more lonely, empty, and anxious than during previous points in history. One could make a mini-bedside reader with all the direct quotes from the book that cut through the bullshit and get to the heart of many of our problems. Such as the following:

"The experience of emptiness, rather, generally comes from peoples feelings that they are powerless to do anything effective about their lives or the world they live in."

"Society lay's such a great emphasis on being socially accepted. It is our chief way of allying anxiety, and our chief mark of prestige. Thus we always have to prove we are a social success by being forever sought-after and by never being alone."

"Since the dominant values for most people in our society are being liked, accepted, and approved of, much anxiety in our day comes from the threat of not being liked, being isolated, lonely or cast off."

"If you had a farm to carve out of the frontier forest two centuries ago, or possessed a little capital with which to start a new business last century, the philosophy of "each man for himself" would have brought out the best in us and resulted in the best for the community. But how does such competitive individualism work in a day when weven corporation wives are screened to fit the "pattern"?

And all of these quotes are only from the first part of the book. In which he explains that the anxiety's (inner conflict) we face today is a result of a society that pushed social values that are in conflict with our inner values.

One can think of how hyper-capitalism has turned us all into auto-bots, competing against each other, and focused on the acquirement of material wealth in order to set ourselves apart from one another. This sets us up to be one man/woman islands, separate and always competing against one another in some way shape or form.

This social value comes into conflict with another social value that we are taught to pursue, and this is the value of being "socially acceptable", or "Liked". How many kids growing up today have their feelings of self-worth determined by the number of likes they receive on a social media post?

These are just a couple of the many thoughts that reading the books left me pondering, even now, days after I finished the book. If your interested in the essential, inner, being of life this book will be worth your time.