Are you more susceptible to illness than other people? Do you have difficulty establishing proper boundaries in relationships, and communicating your needs? Here's what Michael writes about the Type C Personality:
In recent years, a cluster of personality characteristics has come to be identified as the Type C personality, someone who is at heightened risk for a slew of afflictions, from colds to asthma to cancer. In contrast with the Type A person (who angers easily and has difficulty keeping feelings under wraps) and the Type B person (who has a healthier balance of emotional expressiveness), the Type C person is a suppressor, a stoic, a denier of feelings. He or she has a calm, outwardly rational, and unemotional demeanor, but also a tendency to conform to the wishes of others, a lack of assertiveness, and an inclination toward feelings of helplessness or hopelessness.
This is the sort of personality that Canadian physician Gabor Mate has studied extensively. Over his years of family practice, Mate relates, he began to notice a pattern: individuals who were unable to express anger, who didn't seem to recognize the primacy of their own needs, and who were constantly doing for others, appeared to be the ones most susceptible to a slew of ailments, from asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus to multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. These conditions are all autoimmune disorders. Mate claims that, when an individual engages in a long-term practice of ignoring or suppressing legitimate feelings--when he or she is just plain too nice--the immune system can become compromised and confused, learning to attack the self rather than defend it.Emotional expression, in Mate's view is absolutely essential because feelings serve to alert the individual to what is dangerous or unwholesome--or, conversely, to what is helpful and nourishing--so that the person can either take protective action against the thread or move toward the beneficial stimulus. If someone never gets angry, this reflects an unhealthy inability or unwillingness to defend personal integrity. Such "boundary confusion" can ultimately become a matter of life and death. If someone just cannot say no, Mate argues, his or her body will end up saying it in the form of illness or disease.
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I've had rare and unknowable illnesses since I had an accident when I was 11. It affected ALL my internal organs, and, subsequently, I have had issues with digestion, ulcers, GERD, polyps, etc. I've also had severe problems post-surgery on a number of occasions. Also, I have bipolar disorder, inherited through my biological mother's side of the family. This theory does NOT take into account the fact that I express my emotions, although I'm a noted "people pleaser." My therapist has noticed that some illnesses I show up with, however, are "mind/body" related. When I'm under too much STRESS, I tend to "physicalize" the symptoms. Sometimes, talking through the "crises," can relieve the symptoms; sometimes, not. But to classify ALL people as having an iatrogenic tendency to ill health - the so-called "Type C" personalities, doesn't hold water.
This information bears investigation, and I appreciated the comments I read as well. I would have liked the article to conclude with some sort of guidance in how to help anyone that feels they might be a Type C.
This does sound interesting. I would like to know if a person who has the "Type C' personality and get an illness like Lupus; can a change in their personality eliminate the illness?
I will be looking for this book and others on the various personality types-I am a mixture of A&C. I'd like to know more to potentially help myself get better.
why do all the angry people in this world have to demean a type c
personality ? i am the caregiver i like doing for others , yes i have
an ulcer but it doesnt flair up unless im surounded by angry people
and all of there drama.i personally think there should be less expresion of anger and more people should learn to suck it up and deal with life.if you want to EXPRESS YOUR ANGER look in a mirror and express it to the person you see.
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