Do you have a Type C personality?
Smile no matter how you're feeling?
On Friday, I attended a fascinating seminar called The Immune System: The Body-Mind Connection - Who Gets Sick and Who Gets Well. The presenter, Nick Hall, Ph.D. is a neurobiologist who is internationally recognized for his pioneering contributions to the study of stress, emotions and the immune system.
I have pages of notes and I’ll share more in later posts, but one of the things that stood out was his description of the the Type C personality. People with Type Cs, otherwise known as immune dysfunctional personalities, are more prone to certain types of cancer and are more likely to rapidly progress from HIV-positive to full-blown AIDS.
Type Cs are people-pleasers; many were abused as children. They do whatever they can to avoid anger and fail to express their emotions. Type Cs are the opposite of Type As, which we more often hear about, who are perfectionists and prone to angry outbursts. Type As are prime candidates for heart attacks, but not cancer.
My friend, who invited me to the seminar, looked at each other knowingly as Dr. Hall was explaining this. We just discussed at our lunch break how we noticed that so many people in our breast cancer support group, including ourselves, are born people-pleasers. We’re so nice to others, but do we take care of ourselves?
Personally, since my first recurrence, I have made it my mission to take care of myself. I fully embrace the body-mind-spirit connection and decided not to return to a stressful job in order to cultivate a holistic lifestyle. But it wasn’t always that way before.
Dr. Hall had some great suggestions to help build the immune system, which I’ll share in tomorrow’s post. In the meantime, you can find out more by visiting www.DrNickHall.com.
What are your thoughts and experiences? Were you a Type C and have changed since your cancer diagnosis? Are there people in your lives who seem to fit this mold and have developed cancer? Please share.
tamilb says:
This came from the “Share Your Stories” link. Kathryn has started a foundation to help other survivors. Check out her Web site at http://www.ribbonsofawareness.org
My mother and her only sister passed away from Breast Cancer, and my grandmother from Ovarian Cancer. After their deaths, I thought to myself, What does cancer have to do with me ? Breast examinations? Are you kidding? I am not a smoker nor do I drink. I had absolutely no fears when it came to the subject of cancer. I did not have time to be dealing with or thinking about mid to old age issues. I was at the tender age of 23; I was healthy, a young wife and mother of a 5yr old, enjoying all that life had to offer. That was when reality stepped in and shocked me back into the present. “Sorry to inform you Mrs. Brown, but you have OVARIAN CANCER”. 14 yrs later, I had surpassed the 5yr cancer free mark. Now at the age of 36 I was still enjoying life, marriage, and I was now the mother of an 18yr old and an 11yr old. Again, I was graced by the very words that haunted me 14yrs earlier. “Sorry to inform you Mrs. Brown but you now have BREAST CANCER”. That’s when I became a staunch believer that CANCER DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE! RACE, AGE OR GENDER IS NOT A PART OF THE EQUATION WHEN CANCER KNOCKS ON YOUR DOOR. CAUTION: JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE CURED FROM ONE TYPE OF CANCER DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT BE DIAGNOSED WITH ANOTHER!