Project

The Lives of Historic Women Demonstrate a Link between Mental Health and Breast Cancer

Heather Goodare

DOI: 10.26303/z7bf-5267

What is it about?

Breast cancer is the most prevalent kind of cancer in the world, and medical practitioners are keen to stress the role diet, exercise, and environmental pollution play in its development. However, there is an increasingly popular theory that anxiety, depression, and stress also contribute to breast cancer. Traumatic life events can lead to depression, which in turn increases the risk of developing breast cancer. This is the central premise of Foiled Creative Fire by Heather Goodare.

Inspired by the author’s own experience with breast cancer, this book explores the connection between depression, anxiety, and breast cancer through the lives of twelve women in history. These portraits, from Anne of Austria (1601-1666) to Audre Lorde (1934-1992), depict prominent historic women with difficult lives, who were later diagnosed with breast cancer. An undercurrent of feminism runs through the book, emphasizing the collective problem of patriarchal oppression, and how it adds to the struggle of all women, historical and modern. With its focus on artists, this book also speaks to the ill effects of stifled creativity on mental health.

Finally, the book references current research on the links between depression, anxiety, and breast cancer, concluding with a call for improved access to mental health care for all.

Why is it important?

Medical research has established a link between depression, anxiety, and cancer. This makes it clear that any approach to cancer prevention must be a holistic one. By looking at the lives of historical women, the author not only confirms the connection between depression, anxiety, and cancer, she also speaks to how these women were failed by the times they lived in. Mental health care is still thought of as supplementary, not integral to overall health. The author concludes that by listening to patients and providing them with mental support, breast cancer and other kinds of cancer can be avoided.

Audience briefings1 total

Press briefing

Creativity, Mental Health, and Breast Cancer—Using History to Illustrate a Surprising Connection

6th August 2021, Edinburgh, Scotland – one in two people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Of this, breast cancer is the most common type worldwide. The influence of diet, exercise, and environmental factors on cancer development are well known; however, medical research has also established a link between depression, anxiety, and cancer. It is this link that is explored in Foiled Creative Fire, a book by Heather Goodare, former Chair of the Edinburgh Health Forum.

Inspired by her own experience with breast cancer, the author delves into the lives of twelve historic women to evaluate the connection between traumatic life events, subsequent depression, and finally, breast cancer. From Anne of Austria to Audre Lorde, the author paints portraits of a diverse range of women, all of whom lived lives that were fraught with struggle; she discusses how this struggle led to depression and how that depression eventually led to breast cancer. An undercurrent of feminism runs through the book, emphasizing the collective problem of patriarchal oppression, and its ill effects on all women, historical and modern. By using the example of trailblazing women—artists, writers, and politicians—the author underscores how women have to fight for recognition, and how creativity, when smothered, can manifest in harmful ways. She further encourages women to reclaim creativity in whatever form it is available to them.

Mental health care is still considered supplementary, not integral to overall health, particularly for women. Mental health services, when available, are characterized by long wait times and a lack of due consideration by professionals. The author concludes her book with a call for improved and accessible mental health care. She asserts that any approach to cancer prevention must be a holistic one. By listening to patients and providing them with mental support, breast cancer and other kinds of cancer can be avoided.

Resources5 total

Who is involved?