The role of mental and emotional health and wellbeing in the prevention of disease as well as the promotion of good health and vitality cannot be over-emphasized. They are, quite simply put, absolutely crucial.
In fact, some healing modalities place mental and emotional issues at the top of the list of all causes of diseases. Certainly, trauma, stress and negativity in these areas are extremely toxic to our bodies, perhaps even more so than physical toxins and poisons. In this article, a few studies linking cancer and mental and emotional outlook are briefly discussed, and links are provided to more detailed write-ups.
Cancer Prevention
First and foremost, cancer prevention - does mental and emotional outlook help in this area? Do traumatic and stressful events in one’s life increase cancer risk? An Israeli study, which had looked at 622 women aged from 25 to 45, said yes.
Professor Ronit Peled, the leader of the study, said that its findings “showed a clear link between outlook and risk of breast cancer, with optimists 25 percent less likely to have developed the disease”. In addition, the study also uncovered that women who had been through two or more traumatic events in their lives had a 62 percent higher risk of developing cancer.
Peled is convinced that the link between emotional events and health exists, and he said that “we can carefully say that experiencing more than one severe and / or mild to moderate life event is a risk factor for breast cancer among young women. On the other hand, a general feeling of happiness and optimism can play a protective role”.
Reducing Cancer Pain and Fatigue
Next up - the pain and fatigue which accompany cancer. Can positive outlook help?
Once again, a study, this one conducted at the Michigan State University in East Lansing, said yes. The team found that cancer sufferers who had more optimistic outlooks were better able to manage their cancer pain. Further, those of them who had a strong sense of mastery, or control over their environment, experienced less severe fatigue on top of being able to better manage their pain.
Cancer Survival
Now, how about survival and recovery from cancer?
According to a study which was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania and published in 2007, positive emotional and mental outlook does not improve a person’s chances of beating cancer. That sounds pretty depressing.
That study was actually widely publicized on many mainstream media sources, and almost treated as a definitive and conclusive proof of the matter. Damaging headlines, such as “Cancer survival not linked to a positive attitude”, “Study shows positive thinking by patient has no impact on surviving cancer”, “Positive attitude does little to boost cancer survival odds, study says”, “Emotions do not affect cancer survival: study”, and “Study: attitude can’t overcome cancer” can be found on the internet.
The truth is, that study had serious shortcomings. Firstly, it had used the FACT-G to assess the quality of life among the cancer sufferers, a scale which comprised of only 6 questions. According to John M. Grohol, Psy.D, the CEO and publisher of Psychcentral.com, this is a woefully inadequate measure. According to him, there is no existing scale measuring psychological mental health or emotional wellbeing which only has so few questions, simply because such a scale would be way too shallow in its focus. Emotional wellbeing is, after all, a complex issue, as are outlook and attitude.
Another shortcoming of the study was that it only looked at the emotional states of cancer sufferers at one point in time. Grohol said that “mood is well-known to be a variable, ever-changing component, especially during something like cancer treatment”. Again, the study is inadequate.
How about studies which show that positive emotional and mental health do help?
An Ohio State University study had found that unhappy marriages negatively affected cancer recovery. It had found that female cancer sufferers who were in distressed marriages underwent less physical activity, had higher levels of stress, were slower to recover and also suffered more signs and symptoms of sickness, as compared to the women who were in happy marriages. And these findings applied even after factors such as depression levels, stage of cancer, cancer treatment and other factors which could influence wellbeing were accounted for.
“The quality of the marital relationship may not be the first thing women worry about when they get a cancer diagnosis. But it may have a significant impact on how they cope physically and emotionally. Our results suggest that the increases in stress and other problems that come with a distressed marital relationship can have real health consequences and lead to poorer recovery from cancer,” said Hae-Chung Yang, a research associate in psychology at Ohio State University and co-author of the study.
“Clearly, marital distress is a risk factor for numerous poorer outcomes, and it is never too late to work to improve your marriage, not only for your emotional well-being but also for your health,” Yang also said.
Click here to read more: Breast Cancer Recovery Negatively Hit by Unhappy Marriages
Further, another Ohio State University study also found that psychological counseling may boost breast cancer patients’ likelihood of survival. The researchers discovered that sessions which focused on improving mood, effective coping and altering health behaviors seemed to help lower the patients’ stress levels, thereby helping them to live longer.
Click here to read more: Breast Cancer Survival Rates Boosted by Psychological Counseling
So, there you have it. Emotional and mental wellbeing help in every way, preventing cancer, dealing with it, and overcoming and healing from it. Don’t underestimate the power of your mental and emotional health!
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As a survivor of cancer at age 12, I can definitely attest to the fact that keeping an optimistic outlook helps with cancer survival. I can remember having sooooo much support from family, friends, people I didn’t even know… We went in to it, from the day after we found out to the day I was in remission, with a gung-ho “we’re going to beat this thing” attitude. I never once thought about dying. It never crossed my mind. This positive attitude and determination carried over into my entry into Junior High and High School. A once backward and shy me evolved into an empowered and quite confident, and consequently, rather popular high school kid. I started to enjoy school! I still view my battle with cancer as a good thing.
Comment by Anna — March 29, 2009 @ 12:46 am
I forgot to add to the above: I think it’s important to note that, while dying didn’t enter into my thoughts, all kind of emotions often welled up and spilled out. Sadness, anger, fear, guilt… And I let them flow. And my family and friends let me do this. I think this is important. To go ahead and feel what you are feeling, and not deny it. I also was involved in a “group” at school in which we could discuss anything and everything without judgment. Also one on one counseling, or having someone whom you trust and feel safe with, but who does not have emotional involvement with you… Having someone like this to spill all your “crazies” to really helps. I remember sometimes feeling I had to keep being strong and acting brave even when I wasn’t. Having someone to show my weak side to who I knew wouldn’t be burdened by it really helped me stay strong and positive.
I only wish now that I knew then what I know about nutrition and natural medicine- but that’s a different story.
Comment by Anna — March 29, 2009 @ 12:59 am
nice post!
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