"Oh you have cancer...do you smoke?" Stigma and Cancer Diagnosis

Stigma is a powerful force in how people perceive others and how people perceive themselves. Collective stereotypical thought, for example, of people diagnosed with lung cancer is to automatically assume that the person smoked and therefore (eek) deserves it? Or knew that cancer would be a likely outcome? It may not just be others that think this when someone is diagnosed, the person may stigmatize themselves, causing feelings of shame, guilt, remorse, and anger. Well, before we can go waving the naughty finger at people (or ourselves), it’s important to recognize when we are speaking and thinking from a stigmatized viewpoint and to educate ourselves as to whether this has any validity and whether the stigmatized viewpoint really matters (yeah, so the person smoked, we all have our vices don’t we?….doesn’t mean they deserve or wanted cancer, now does it?). The fact of the matter is that lung cancer is the second most common form of cancer to be diagnosed in both men and women according to the American Lung Association. Additionally, it is the most lethal form of cancer according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While smoking, whether current or in the past, is considered the highest risk factor, there are other risk factors too, including genetics and exposure to chemicals such as radon and asbestos. There is also a statistically significant number of women who are diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked according to the National Cancer Institute. The causes of cancer, in this case lung cancer, are important in preventing cancer. However, once a cancer diagnosis has been made, the reason why the person was diagnosed is only relevant for suggesting a change in lifestyle to promote longevity (such as quitting smoking if the person does smoke), for the person and the person’s family to question as part of a natural grieving process over the loss of their health, and for others to speculate why it happened to that person as a means of stigmatization or as a means of assuring themselves that the person got cancer for a reason that is not associated with themselves, thereby enabling them to believe that the same thing couldn’t happen to them too. It’s scary – basically everyone either has had cancer themselves, has had a family member that had cancer, or knows someone who has had cancer. While it is easy to think that someone knowingly did something specific that caused their cancer diagnosis, it just isn’t true. Many smokers reference family members who lived long lives as a reason why they are okay with smoking, that cancer won’t happen to them. Is this denial, well probably, but it’s not for us to judge. We can encourage the people we care about not to smoke, but people will not make changes until they are ready to change for themselves – you can not MAKE someone quit smoking, but you can support them if they choose to stop smoking. We could all take preventative measures to ensure our health and smoking is a dangerous lifestyle choice that can have serious consequences, but so is driving a car, especially with no seatbelt, or eating fatty foods that we know are bad for us. The key factor is that these are choices – smoking and other lifestyle habits that are risky are choices people make, but getting cancer is not something that is chosen by anyone. It is easy to throw stones and blame someone for the choices they have made, but we’d better check that glass house of ours first. It is also so important to remember that just because someone has a particular diagnosis does not mean that they engaged in the risky behaviors associated with that diagnosis – not all lung cancer patients were smokers or lived with a smoker! Don’t let stigma get the better of you!! So what do you do if someone is stigmatizing you? Find out in my next blog inspired by a courageous and inspirational man how you can use humor to deflect stigmatization.