Hey ladies
Just read this article about people with certain personality types being more likely to get breast cancer. What do you think? I would think nearly all women spend most of the time worrying about everyone else & not looking after themselves, maybe that’s why 12% of us get it ha ha xx
Interesting article and great website for diet and exercise advice
Thanks for posting!
Yes! Quite scary too. I definitely find it hard to say no to people & I am interested in what all the survivors did. Funny how so many things can lead to cancer. Guess it’s bad luck if you get enough of them all at once & you get BC. x
Thanks for sharing SusieW. I’ve read a few books and articles and the opinions seem to be mixed on cancer personality. (I’ve listed my books in the coffee lounge>hope and inspiration) I certainly tick some boxes on this particular article but then most of us do who who have been around for nearly 50 years! That’s life: No one got the perfect childhood, loved ones die, pressures of keeping a job during an economic downturn, relationships break up and cars get smashed into through no fault of your own. And the older you get the more more you’ve been through and the higher your risk of cancer anyway. My personal view is rather than it being a personality type (as I think personality types are always more complex than psychologists suggest e.g. Myers-Briggs) it’s more likely a build up of negative stress hormones and emotions which can become destructive over time which may create an environment where hormonal cancers can grow. If someone has been unlucky enough to have gone through stressful events does this mean their personality was at fault or were they just unlucky to have had stressful events? I definitely think it’s important to keep stress in check if you can as this can lead to a variety of illnesses but we can’t always avoid it or be unaffected by it. I’m definitely going to avoid stress as much as I can now, I’ve worked hard enough for long enough and don’t need to push myself any more. That was quite a long reply!
Well, it’s a point of view of course & thanks for sharing, but getting a cancer diagnosis over a lifetime is about 1 in 2, as common as having a first child or going university & is often simply a product of getting older. Most of the issues & life events described are common to everyone anyway.
Completely agree with Mai in this.
ann x
This is interesting. I’m convinced my reaction to my dad’s sudden death brought on my bc. When I asked my oncologist how long he thought I’d had the cancer he told me 7 to 9 months, which meant 3 to 5 months after my dad died.
My mam moved in with us and my brother came to stay. I didn’t dare cry in case I upset anyone and waited on them hand and foot. I was walking around in an ultra high state of anxiety. The bc was confirmed on my dad’s anniversary.
I don’t want it to come back, so I’ve taken a massive step back from looking after everyone and I even ask for help now. I also walk away from stressy situations and even though I’m going through treatment, I feel much calmer than before diagnosis, although it’s still something I’m working on as it’s hard to stop trying to make everyone else happy and feeling awkward asking for help.
Maybe there is some truth to this for some of us.
Angela ?
Yeah mai and Angela the stress thing definitely must have an impact on our overall well-being as Angela knows I have had a tremendous amount of it during my own treatment as my dad was diagnosed with a very aggressive terminal cancer whilst I’ve been going through treatment and can’t help but feel it may have been why I have reacted so badly to my chemo, but you blame our personality is somewhat of a kick in teeth!! It’s kind of saying that if you are a natural giver who helps others, I think it’s just learning to not be superwoman trying to do everything for everyone else all the time and not letting work stresses get out of hand it’s really not worth it I am already starting to feel like I only want to work part time when I go back my job is very stressful and feel like I need to take a step back when I return, been off since may and definitely know I cant go back to the pace I was working at before and yeah feel like I can’t look after everyone I need to look after me now, and for the record I like my personality!!!
I agree with you both mai and Michelle. I don’t think it’s so much a personality thing , i Just think stress has a lot to answer for.
I’m not a psychopath, so do have a lot of empathy for others when they’re going through a bad time and do probably put myself last at points like that. I am strong and usually cope better than those around me. Losing my dad so suddenly was exceptional. We were very close.
I do think my body’s reaction to the stress of grief allowed the bc to develop.
I certainly don’t tick a lot of the boxes on the personality list. I can be quite feisty. Would never allow people to walk over me at work, and certainly don’t feel the urge to please authority figures. ?
I’ve been fighting them for years to make sure my disabled son gets what he needs.
Yes, im a nice person, I have very nice friends too but they havent had cancer ?.
Anyway, anyone can become overly stressed and if there are any outside factors I can change to prevent it in the future I’m going to do my best.
You could be right about your reaction to the T as well Michelle. You’ve been battling so much recently, sometimes we seem alright on the outside but stress just HAS to have some internal effect. X