Reading this brought to my mind Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist who survived the Nazi death camps. Have you read Man's Search for Meaning? (I'd be surprised if you haven't) It impacted me greatly and I quote him often especially in my essays geared towards suicide attempt prevention.

Here's one quote:

"What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual."