Feelings, personality and cancer

In the last 20 years, there has been a lot of interest and research into the relationship between cancer, emotion, stress and psychological factors. Research studies have looked at the following questions:

Are people with particular personality types more likely to get cancer?

Although the idea has been popular for a long time, there is no scientific evidence to show that people with certain personality types are more likely to get cancer. People with cancer may understandably be anxious, feel low or be depressed but this does not mean that the two things are linked. In fact, people who are told this may feel that they are to blame for their cancer, which can cause them unnecessary distress.

Can stress cause cancer?

Many people believe that their cancer was caused by the stress of a traumatic event, or being exposed to stressful situations over a long period of time. It is very difficult to research whether stress can cause cancer, as what causes stress in one person may not be seen as stressful for another. At the moment, studies have shown that psychological and environmental stress can result in slight changes to the body's immune system, but there is no evidence that this can cause cancer or affect its growth.

Can attitude affect cancer?

Some people feel that a positive attitude helps when people have to cope with cancer and its treatments. However, a positive attitude means different things to different people. So, this does not mean that you have to be cheerful all the time. Everyone who has cancer can feel helpless, and may feel too tired to be positive and 'fight' the cancer. This does not mean that they lower their chance of a good outcome from treatment. It is important to talk to your doctor or nurse if you feel anxious or depressed as help is available for your psychological as well as your physical needs.

There is evidence that a positive attitude improves a person's quality of life. However, trying to be positive should not become a burden. Very few people are optimistic all the time and it is natural and understandable to feel down sometimes.

Can changing my attitude and level of stress affect the outcome?

Anything that helps you cope in your own way is valuable. Many self-help books work on the principle that a change in attitude to having cancer may affect the outlook. This idea influences many complementary approaches to cancer. The effect of these approaches is very difficult to evaluate properly, but many people find them helpful and they can contribute to people's sense of wellbeing and quality of life.