There is something interesting and at the same time disturbing about the idea that cancer emerges as a result of behaviour, or “personality type”. Following the psychological research on cancer patients that begun in the 1950’s, the type C personality was formulated. So what characterises this “cancer personality”?
Bacon (1952) studied breast cancer patients and found an inordinant amount of unconscious repressed hostility, which he related to an early, pathological relationship with the mother. Many of these patients said that they had never been angry, and there was evidence that relations with others were excessively pleasant. Greer and Morris (1975) also found suppression of anger was correlated with breast malignancy. Derogatis and Abeloff (1973) noted that in women with breast cancer, those who expressed anger towards the treating physician or towards the disease itself lived longer than those who were compliant and cooperative.
“…abrogating one’s own needs in favour of others, suppressing negative emotions and being cooperative, unassertive, appeasing, and accepting… The Type C individual is considered nice, friendly and helpful to others, and rarely gets into arguments or fights… The Type C individual does not even try to express needs and feelings; these are hidden under a mask of normalcy and self sufficiency” Temoshok (1987)
The Type C personality is characterised by a “stoic” adjustment, and by an “accepting, self-sacrificing” orientation in a person “who struggles to maintain a strong and happy facade”
There is something quite intriguing about the behaviours associated with the Type C cancer prone personality. In any other context these are actually considered to be positive, gracious and honourable character traits. What does it mean to the moral codes and to the way in which children are being educated? Is the stiff upper lip ethos dangerous on the cellular level?
Could education be utilised as a preventive measure to combat cancer through behaviour? Should a carrier parent educate their children to be assertive, emotionally expressive and argumentative in order to compensate for their inherited cancer prone genetic endowment?
Could nurture be employed to nullify nature?
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