Carcinogenic Personality Profile
Cancer is a multifactorial disease. It is not just an isolated tumour floating like an iceberg in a vast ocean. In cancer, there is a whole interplay of many activities. Cancer is usually slow to progress and involves many contributing factors, such as diet, heredity, environment, lifestyle, personality and attitude.
It is this cancer personality that I would like to bring to the reader's attention. My hope is not only to alert the reader, but also to encourage them to take the appropriate steps for changes that will lead to a healthier life and well being. Years ago when I started describing this "carcinogenic personality profile" I was met with a lot of resistance. Many held a position that there is no such thing. People would accept the notion that a type-A personality would lead to a higher risk of heart disease, but a type-C personality? ... Interestingly enough, I find this "type-C" or "carcinogenic personality profile" pattern very common.
In general terms, the carcinogenic personality profile can be summed up as follows:
• Loss / Grief (relationship, status, etc.)
• Unfulfilled passion
• Unworthiness
• Avoidance of conflict
• Tension in parental relationship
Loss / Grief - This could be a great shock when one loses a spouse, child, friend, ... Grief of course is a normal process and is part of everyone's life. However, many fall prey to this destructive emotion only to realize years later how vulnerable they are and how easy it is to cross that line of no return. Loss of status, financial or otherwise could be just as devastating as a loss of a relationship.
Unfulfilled Passion - In his work as a psychologist in a New York City cancer hospital for over 30 years, Dr. Lawrence LeShan observed a common thread amongst cancer patients. The common thread was unfulfilled passion that had been suppressed for many years. For example, a child who wanted to learn the piano, but couldn't because either their parents could not afford those piano lessons, or other priorities took precedence over theirs. This pattern of suppression would repeat itself over their lifetime. Oddly enough, studying piano later in life, or fulfilling a previously unfulfilled passion has an amazing curative effect.
Unworthiness - The personality predisposed to cancer is usually what I would call 'nice', a 'kind soul', or 'other-centered' someone who would put the needs of others before their own.
Avoidance of Conflict - These people avoid conflict and are unable to express hostility in their own defense. These people prefer order and avoid arguments, as arguments are unpredictable. Order to them means control, whereas arguments or expressions of hostility means loss of control. Many times I would walk into someone's house and move a small object on the table, and I could feel it and even see in their eyes that this makes them very uncomfortable. They are very tidy people, they are always striving for perfection; their dinner parties have to be perfect, their decor elegant, and their dress immaculate.
Of course this is a compensation mechanism for their feelings of unworthiness and self-dislike. They are usually nature lovers, artistic, social activists who are particularly pained over environmental issues. People with an artistic streak usually have an appreciation for the elegant. They are achievers with a tendency to overdo and overwork. It is hard for them to relax, and instead they do things to exhaustion and crash. Many of these individuals come from a parental relationship where, in order to get affection as a child they must achieve i.e.: please the parent; thus they become the best in their class, orderly, submissive. This behaviour in turn creates friction, since from an early age their desires are suppressed even though most of them have a very passionate nature that is unfulfilled.
Most Carcinogenic personality profiles are very punctual. They are never late for their appointments. As a matter of fact I noticed that most of them would arrive well ahead of time to avoid the possibility of being late and thus displeasing someone. Being late creates a lot of anticipatory anxiety in them and brings forth the possibility of losing control.
The greatest fears of a carcinogenic personality are: the fear of getting cancer, crawling creatures, most commonly spiders, not being accepted by others, and not being liked. Regarding the fear of cancer, I believe that subconsciously, the patient always knows what is going to get them in the end. That is why it is so important for the therapist to carefully listen to, and pay attention to their fears since it really is the patient that provides the answers and the solution to their problems. Of course, the greater the fear, the greater the susceptibility to this disease. The reverse is also true with many people as they get the appropriate treatment their fear subsides and their resistance to this disease increases.
Cancer is a multifactorial disease. It is not just an isolated tumour floating like an iceberg in a vast ocean. In cancer, there is a whole interplay of many activities.
Depression - When Carcinogenic personalities sink deep into their depressions, as they quite often do, it brings their feeling of unworthiness forth such that they see nothing positive about themselves or their lives. Many would resort to anti-depressants early in life. Suicidal feelings are common amongst these people and should be taken seriously. I have come across many young carcinogenic personalities who tell their parents that they want to die. Because of their impressionability, frequent positive contact with a therapist can help enormously during depressive episodes. Very often these people have never given themselves the opportunity to unburden themselves with a therapist. When they do, they feel greatly relieved and begin to see themselves more objectively which in itself leads to more self-respect.
Self Expression and Creativity - Self-expression is a key for these individuals and it is this very struggle for individualization and creativity that often leads to the discovery of their artistic talents. Their intuition often leads to an expression of an inner world. Music and painting are creative avenues that are used as a means of self-expressing the pain they have endured.
Pre-Cancer States and Treatment
Cancer is curable if diagnosed early. Since the consistency in cure the of advanced cancer remains elusive, it is desirable to identify and treat pre-cancer diseases. A considerable focus worldwide is now given to prophylactic treatment and the treatment of pre-cancer states. Since we are all a combination of body, mind and spirit, it is of great importance to make sure that the psycho-emotional component be addressed early enough thus preventing the need for a full blown disease and its subsequent tedious cure.