War, battle, and other military metaphors in cancer treatment can make people more fearful and fatalistic

A study by psychologists David Hauser and Norbert Schwarz found that the ubiquitous use of war metaphors when referring to cancer may do more harm than good.

Framing cancer in military terms made treatment seem more difficult and left people feeling more fatalistic about the illness, believing there was little they could do to reduce their risk, researchers found.