<p>*Her breast cancer diagnosis introduced writer Barbara Ehrenreich to an unfamiliar world of positive thinking pink ribbons, pink teddy bears and even the idea that cancer is a “gift” that will make you a better person.</p>
<p>The author (“Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America”), who has a doctorate in cell biology, was appalled by the notion that a cheerful attitude is a key to beating this dreaded disease.</p>
<p>What followed was an exploration of the false promises of positive thinking. These included the mantra of motivators, life coaches, mega church pastors and self-help gurus that if you think positively, whatever you want a great job, lots of money, good health will be yours.*</p>
<p>*When a 2004 study found no survival benefits for optimism among lung cancer patients, its lead author, Penelope Schofield, wrote: “We should question whether it is valuable to encourage optimism if it results in the patient concealing his or her distress in the misguided belief that this will afford survival benefits… If a patient feels generally pessimistic… it is important to acknowledge these feelings as valid and acceptable.”</p>
<p>Whether repressed feelings are themselves harmful, as many psychologists claim, I’m not so sure, but without question there is a problem when positive thinking “fails” and the cancer spreads or eludes treatment. Then the patient can only blame herself: she is not being positive enough; possibly it was her negative attitude that brought on the disease in the first place.*</p>
<p>I saw Ehrenreich on CSPAN last night at the Chicago Lit fest. She was fairly adamant that she felt the “Bright-Siding” actually devalued a person’s very real feelings of anger and fright and gave an example which was especially telling for her as a cancer victim. She told about posting on a cancer-support website and expressing her anger and ending with something like “…and what’s with those pink ribbons anyway?” She was looking for validation and an acknowledgement of her feelings and was told she needed to adjust her attitude and seek therapy. </p>
<p>She did also speak about those in the lowest socio-economic strata (remember Nickle and Dimed) and spoke to how difficult it is for them to “think positively” since they are constantly stressed out just by trying to survive.</p>
<p>I don’t always agree with her, but thought she came across as very honest and realistic in this forum. She did draw a distinction between hope and positivity, and encouraged people to seek information and be knowledgeable patients without mindlessly buying into the idea of positivity being a cure-all. She was also careful to say that the downside of the positivity movement was that patients who did not feel positivity during their fight with cancer were left to feel the cancer was their fault, because of their bad attitude.</p>
<p>A nurse who had also gone through cancer brought up the value of empathetic listening rather than the encouragement of blanket positivity. </p>
<p>I don’t know that I will buy the book, but I enjoyed seeing Ehrenreich and how feisty she is.</p>
<p>I had breast cancer and I was particularly annoyed by the whole positive thinking BS guilt trip. The only thing the positive thinking shtick does is make everyone around you feel better.</p>
<p>It also annoyed me that everyone thought I had to be “fighting” or “battling” my cancer. Nobody else had to battle their heart disease or diabetes. Why couldn’t I just try to survive it?</p>
<p>And honestly, I was pretty strong and resilient throughout. But I learned to ignore the cancer attitude police.</p>
<p>It’s funny you should say that about “fighting” and “battling” because she said she thought her doctors should be fighting and battling and she should be summoning her strength. ;-)</p>
<p>A friend who is a breast cancer survivor recently led the charge to keep a breast cancer park from being built in our town. She, and others, objected to the platitudes that are a key component of these parks, built nationwide by the Bloch Cancer Foundation. I bet she’d love this book.</p>
<p>Off on somewhat of a tangent, but an acquaintance recently lent me a book by Louise Hay which gave me a similar reaction. There was a whole section on ills and their sources. Evidently we cause everything from cancer to std’s to tapeworm infections ourselves. I found it both idiotic and insulting.</p>
)said at commencement ( high school)</p>