Discussion

Booth's thesis concerning the hostile reactions aroused by the problem of cancer is rather well illustrated by the announcement of his talk which was made in The American Psychologist. Instead of “An Irrational Complication of the Cancer Problem,” it was announced that he would speak on “An Irritational Complication of the Cancer Problem!”

One might also demonstrate the negative reactions by an incident related by J. A. Corscaden in his book, Gynecologic Cancer.1 He tells how a group of women wanted to form a “cured cancer club.” They had had several meetings and, amongst other things, had designed a button to be worn by members. The hostile and horrified reactions of their physicians were so strong that the project was abandoned.

The negative attitude toward the study of the psychosomatic aspects of cancer, in particular, can be widely illustrated. Briefly, my own experience has been that I came to New York in 1952 with a research grant to explore this area and enough credentials to show that I had had research and hospital experience. To my surprise, the grant was turned down by twelve major hospitals, mostly on the ground that “We do not care to be associated with this type of research.” One leading surgeon told me, “Even if you prove in ten years that there is a relationship between personality and cancer, I won't believe it.” There seemed little one could reply to this.

The history of the psychosomatic concept