body’s hormonal system is inextricably linked with the brain centres where emotions are experienced and interpreted. In turn, the hormonal apparatus and the emotional centres are interconnected with the immune system and the nervous system. These are not four separate systems, but one super-system that functions as a unit to protect the body from external invasion and from disturbances to the internal physiological condition. It is impossible for any stressful stimulus, chronic or acute, to act on only one part of the super-system. What happens to one will affect all. In chapter 7 we will examine the workings of this supersystem more closely.
Emotions also directly modulate the immune system. Studies at the U.S. National Cancer Institute found that natural killer (NK) cells, an important class of immune cells we have already met, are more active in breast cancer patients who are able to express anger, to adopt a fighting stance and who have more social support. NK cells mount an attack on malignant cells and are able to destroy them. These women had significantly less spread of their breast cancer, compared with those who exhibited a less assertive attitude or who had fewer nurturing social connections. The researchers found that emotional factors and social involvement were more important to survival than the degree of disease itself. 3
Many studies, such as the one reported in
The British Medical Journal
article, fail to appreciate that stress is not only a question of external stimulus but also of individual response. It occurs in the real lives of real persons whose inborn temperament, life history, emotional patterns, physical and mental resources, and social and economic supports vary greatly. As pointed out in chapter 3 , there is no universal stressor.
In most cases of breast cancer, the stresses are hidden and chronic. They stem from childhood experiences, early emotional programming and unconscious psychological coping styles. They accumulate over a lifetime to make someone susceptible to disease.
Michelle grew up in a home where both parents were alcoholics. She now believes that her malignancy is related to early experiences that shaped how she has faced life. She has tried to cope in ways that, unconsciously, increased the stress load she had to carry for manyyears—for example, by taking care of other people’s emotional needs rather than her own. “I’ve been confused all my life,” she says, “and I think my cancer had to do with confusion…. As much as I believe and understand my parents loved us the best way they knew how, it was the most confusing relationship and family environment because they were alcoholics, and still are. They’re unloving even though there is love.”
Research has suggested for decades that women are more prone to develop breast cancer if their childhoods were characterized by emotional disconnection from their parents or other disturbances in their upbringing; if they tend to repress emotions, particularly anger; if they lack nurturing social relationships in adulthood; and if they are the altruistic, compulsively caregiving types. In one study, psychologists interviewed patients admitted to hospital for breast biopsy, without knowing the pathology results. Researchers were able to predict the presence of cancer in up to 94 per cent of cases judging by such psychological factors alone. 4 In a similar German study, forty women with breast cancer were matched with forty controls similar in age, general health history and lifestyle considerations. Again, on psychological grounds the researchers were 96 per cent successful in identifying who was and who was not diagnosed with breast cancer. 5
As a man, Melvin Crew * was at first embarrassed to learn of his diagnosis with breast cancer but decided that “there’s no sense just lying back and letting the disease consume you.” Now, several years after mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, he jokes about it. “At least
Emotions also directly modulate the immune system. Studies at the U.S. National Cancer Institute found that natural killer (NK) cells, an important class of immune cells we have already met, are more active in breast cancer patients who are able to express anger, to adopt a fighting stance and who have more social support. NK cells mount an attack on malignant cells and are able to destroy them. These women had significantly less spread of their breast cancer, compared with those who exhibited a less assertive attitude or who had fewer nurturing social connections. The researchers found that emotional factors and social involvement were more important to survival than the degree of disease itself. 3
Many studies, such as the one reported in
The British Medical Journal
article, fail to appreciate that stress is not only a question of external stimulus but also of individual response. It occurs in the real lives of real persons whose inborn temperament, life history, emotional patterns, physical and mental resources, and social and economic supports vary greatly. As pointed out in chapter 3 , there is no universal stressor.
In most cases of breast cancer, the stresses are hidden and chronic. They stem from childhood experiences, early emotional programming and unconscious psychological coping styles. They accumulate over a lifetime to make someone susceptible to disease.
Michelle grew up in a home where both parents were alcoholics. She now believes that her malignancy is related to early experiences that shaped how she has faced life. She has tried to cope in ways that, unconsciously, increased the stress load she had to carry for manyyears—for example, by taking care of other people’s emotional needs rather than her own. “I’ve been confused all my life,” she says, “and I think my cancer had to do with confusion…. As much as I believe and understand my parents loved us the best way they knew how, it was the most confusing relationship and family environment because they were alcoholics, and still are. They’re unloving even though there is love.”
Research has suggested for decades that women are more prone to develop breast cancer if their childhoods were characterized by emotional disconnection from their parents or other disturbances in their upbringing; if they tend to repress emotions, particularly anger; if they lack nurturing social relationships in adulthood; and if they are the altruistic, compulsively caregiving types. In one study, psychologists interviewed patients admitted to hospital for breast biopsy, without knowing the pathology results. Researchers were able to predict the presence of cancer in up to 94 per cent of cases judging by such psychological factors alone. 4 In a similar German study, forty women with breast cancer were matched with forty controls similar in age, general health history and lifestyle considerations. Again, on psychological grounds the researchers were 96 per cent successful in identifying who was and who was not diagnosed with breast cancer. 5
As a man, Melvin Crew * was at first embarrassed to learn of his diagnosis with breast cancer but decided that “there’s no sense just lying back and letting the disease consume you.” Now, several years after mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation, he jokes about it. “At least
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