The Comfort Paradigm in Mental Health Care: A Logotherapeutic Analysis of Avoidance-Based Well-Being Models

Abstract: Contemporary mental health care increasingly prioritizes symptom reduction, emotional regulation, and psychological safety as primary indicators of well-being. Although these stabilization-oriented approaches have advanced ethical practice through harm reduction and trauma-informed care, global indicators of psychological distress remain elevated. This tension raises a conceptual question: has mental health discourse narrowed its definition of psychological health by equating well-being with emotional comfort? Using a critical interpretive thematic synthesis of contemporary clinical and existential scholarship, this article examines the assumptions underlying avoidance-based well-being models and contrasts them with logotherapeutic and meaning-centered perspectives. Six analytic themes emerged, including the consolidation of a comfort paradigm, the normalization of experiential avoidance beyond acute contexts, the possibility of symptom relief without existential coherence, and the marginalization of existential tension as a developmental resource. Building on these findings, the article advances an integrative model of psychological health in which symptom stabilization is foundational but insufficient without meaning-centered engagement. Existential hope is clarified as a responsibility-grounded mechanism that sustains resilience independently of affective reassurance. The analysis argues that sustainable psychological well-being requires the dynamic integration of compassionate stabilization and existential orientation. By reframing discomfort as developmentally significant rather than merely pathological, this study offers a theoretically grounded corrective to comfort-dominant paradigms in contemporary mental health theory and practice. Keywords: logotherapy; thematic synthesis; avoidance-based well-being; meaning-centered care; existential hope; psychological resilience; mental health theory. Title: The Comfort Paradigm in Mental Health Care: A Logotherapeutic Analysis of Avoidance-Based Well-Being Models Author: Dr. David Bull International Journal of Healthcare Sciences ISSN 2348-5728 (Online) Vol. 13, Issue 2, October 2025 - March 2026 Page No: 440-457 Research Publish Journals Website: www.researchpublish.com Published Date: 09-March-2026 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18922287 Paper Download Link (Source) https://www.researchpublish.com/papers/the-comfort-paradigm-in-mental-health-care-a-logotherapeutic-analysis-of-avoidance-based-well-being-models