Characteristics of the Disease Prone Personality

Research has established a relationship between personality type and susceptibility to heart disease. People with personality type A seem to be more prone to heart disease, are typically more driven, impatient, energetic and ambitious. In contrast, people with personality type B, seem to take life more slowly, are usually more relaxed and less likely to develop heart disease.

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.

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.