Death of Little EvaHarriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Felix Barrias, The Death of Chopin, 1885

Fresh air was a part of the regimen to battle tuberculosis. Above, patients receive fresh air treatment on the sun porch at Waverly Tuberculosis Hospital in Louisville.

Psychologists have now identified a "type C." (cancer-prone) personality which may be characterized as someone who responds to stress with depression and a sense of hopelessness. Type C personalities have a tendency to be introverted, respectful, eager to please, conforming and compliant. However, these same studies have not identified how personality may affect lifestyle choices such as are these same individuals more likely to smoke?

There has been some evidence to suggest that your personality type may have some relationship to your chance of surviving cancer. Those who respond with a "fighting spirit" or sense of denial seem to do better than the type C personalities who seem to accept their fate passively. A Stanford University (in the USA) professor named David Spiegel discovered that cancer patients who joined a support group which fostered a "fighting spirit" had a tendency to live on average, 18 months longer than those who were not in such a group.

However, the data is far from conclusive, and there are many problems with overemphasizing personality type without considering various other factors and their effect on the disease process. Taken to an extreme, some individuals may even feel guilty in considering that their personality type may be responsible for their disease, which may only add to their problems.

“Personality types A, B and C and Disease”http://www.psychtreatment.com/personality_type_and_disease.htm