In ancient times, sickness was interpreted as punishment from God. In modern times, cancer is often viewed as a result of some inner weakness or repression, a medical punishment of self-betrayal rather than divine retribution.
Repressed Feelings
The belief that disease is a response to the patient’s character, “as the punishment fits the sinner,” was replaced in the 19th century by the idea that disease is created by personality and can be challenged by will (Sontag 1978:44).
Sontag notes that repressed feelings are often viewed as a cause of cancer: “Many people believe that cancer is a disease of insufficient passion, afflicting those who are sexually repressed, inhibited, unspontaneous, incapable of expressing anger” (1978:22-23).
This belief places blame on cancer patients, as if their sinful or powerful emotions had festered inside of them and become embodied in a tumor. It also adds to the image of cancer as a sort of concentrated evil or unhealed wound lurking within a person.
Cancer Personalities
This belief persists today. For example, in his 2007 bestseller Anticancer: A New Way of Life, Dr. David Servan-Schreiber claims people with “Type C” personalities are at increased risk for cancer:
"…people who, rightly or wrongly, never felt fully welcome in their childhood. Their parents may have been violent or irascible, or simply cold, distant and demanding. Often these children received little encouragement and developed a feeling of vulnerability and weakness. Later, to be sure of being loved, they decided to conform to the best of their ability to what was expected of them rather than to follow their own desires. […] They avoid conflict and put their needs and aspirations on the back burner, sometimes for the rest of their lives" (174-175).
Dr. Servan-Schreiber attributes his brain cancer to a “painful void [he] experienced as an infant;” his young mother was deemed unfit to raise him, and was raised by a nanny who threatened to leave if he misbehaved.
He explains that, “I learned to give what was expected of me and of a firstborn. No temper tantrums, no outbursts. Instead, discipline and an attention to appearances. I think I played my role well, covering up my feelings to keep my place” (Servan-Schreiber 2007:171).
His cancer returned after his relationship with his wife fell apart: “For several years, I forced myself to do what was expected of me, even though I no longer got any satisfaction from it. […] my life had reverted to the childhood pattern I’d known before: just enough love to survive and obligations I did my best to fulfill to keep up appearances” (Servan-Schreiber 2007:173-174).
Although this view of cancer personalities does not directly blame cancer victims for their illness, Servan-Schreiber’s book encourages people to eat properly and seek inner peace. The notion that those who have cancer can do something about it implicitly condemns cancer patients who do not.
The Importance of Positive Thinking
The notion that “positive thinking” has medical efficacy also affects patients already suffering from cancer. Celebrities and public figures unfailingly appear optimistic in the face of cancer; their appearances are often accompanied by “stirring martial language” (Hoffman 2008).
Some perceive this as positive; for example, Adam Lichtenstein, a founder of Voices Against Brain Cancer, said that “It gives everyone else with his diagnosis a glimmer of hope […] Patients think, ‘He’s fighting it, why can’t I?’” (Hoffman 2008).
Perhaps this does inspire many. But when public figures survive their cancers, patients might later face a darker question: He survived, why can’t I?
Rachel M. Schneider, a clinical social worker at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, pointed out that the example of public figures could make some patients feel guilty for not being upbeat: “Patients say, ‘I have to be positive, I can’t cry, I can’t let myself fall apart.’ And that is a burden” (Hoffman 2008).
Conceiving of cancer as a fight values courage and strength, motivating some patients but discouraging and alienating others.
References:
Hoffman, Jan. 2008 "When Thumbs Up Is No Comfort," New York Times, June 1. Electronic document, accessed November 15th.
Servan-Schreiber, David. 2007 Anticancer: A New Way of Life. London: Penguin Books.
Sontag, Susan, 1978 Illness as Metaphor. London: Penguin Books.
Rebekah Richards - Rebekah Richards has published fiction and nonfiction in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution, Brandeis Law Journal, Where the Children Play, ...
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