It is my great pleasure to work at the Radboud University Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies. We are what you might call a “thinking faculty”. While colleagues from other faculties work to solve problems, we work to find them. I investigate how people make meaning. An important concept in prevention since it invites a perspective shift. Prevention tends to focus on avoiding, preventing, and averting. This is very commendable, but not a very useful starting point when it comes to motivating people. It comes into play when people are confronted with disease, disability, and handicap, where the standard response is non-acceptance, and the earlier you catch it, the better. In reaction to this, we launch health projects. However, our battle with suffering is much advertised, but seldom won. As a result, prevention is not a term that usually elicits peace of mind. On the contrary, it conjures a kind of activism that may quickly lead to nightmare scenarios. There may therefore be much to win from also mapping out the “passive side” of prevention. How can we suffer well?
Our students are a case-in-point. Research shows that they suffer from stress, burn-out, loneliness, depression, and suicidal tendencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we worked with a team on surveys among Radboud University students, trying to relate these symptoms to how people make meaning. In a series of qualitative follow-up studies, we also discovered some of the ways in which students made meaning. Walking in nature, drawing, meditation, talking to their parents all provided unexpected opportunities for making meaning out of a rather unhappy situation. We teach our spiritual counselling students to include this aspect in the support they offer people. Start with a simple question, like “What’s on your mind?”. Show respect for people’s suffering and their efforts at coping with it. Be present. Meaning making – orientation on values, beliefs, and life goals – may be an unsuspected aspect of prevention, but one that we clearly need to investigate further.