No, according to a new study being published today in the journal Cancer by Dr. David Spiegel, associate chair of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine.
The new Spiegel study is important because in 1989, Spiegel published findings that electrified the world of cancer patients and their doctors. In that study, he found that women whose cancer had spread beyond the breast and who participated in group psychotherapy lived an average of 18 months longer than those who did not get group therapy. That study fed hopes that reducing emotional stress might not only help patients feel better but live longer.