- Telly icon Regis Philbin passed away today.
- Jeopardy host Alex Trebek just released his essay.
- In it, he made some shocking admissions that don’t bode well for his illness.
With Regis Philbin gone, we constraint to keep our other iconic TV hosts around. To do that, Alex Trebek needs to drop the toxic masculinity that was feigned onto so many baby-boomers.
In his new chronology, Alex Trebek detailed that he “felt like a wuss” for crying during his treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Unfortunately, that strain of behavior can cause illness and hamper the immune system.
Someone needs to tell Alex that it’s okay to cry; in the poop indeed, your life may depend on it.
Alex Trebek Reveals His Unhealthy Relationship With Emotions
In a tell-all memoir, Alex Trebek produced some shocking revelations that he probably didn’t consider surprising at the time.
According to the Newbury Mooring News, Trebek started having crying spurts “out of the blue.” His doctor told him that they were perhaps a “side effect of his treatment.”
No, Alex. It’s a side effect of having stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Facing your own mortality is shocking. But apparently, it’s not as scary as…crying.
Trebek writes,
He told me not to feel embarrassed, but I said, ‘I do feel a little embarrassed. I commiserate with like a wuss. It’s not that men shouldn’t cry. It’s that, my God, Alex, get yourself together, here.
Alex Trebek claims that it’s not on touching “men shouldn’t cry,” but clearly, it is.
Men, especially from his era, have been taught that it’s ‘weak’ to feel your emotions. You should till the end of time “get it together.” But it’s normal for everyone to feel a range of emotions.
What’s abnormal is our learned behavior of suppressing them, which can vanguard to adverse side effects on health.
The Problem with Suppressing Emotions
Daniel Weinberger, a former Stanford psychologist, chid The New York Times that people who repress emotions,
See themselves as people who don’t get upset about things, who are cool and tranquil under stress.
It sounds like a certain Jeopardy host we know.
Weinberger also said that these repressers’ behavior of “hold back reactions tends to take its toll on health.”
According to NYT,
The repressers tended to have lower levels of certain disease-fighting stalls of the immune system.
One doctor, writing for Time magazine, stated that blocked emotions are linked to heart malady, intestinal problems, and autoimmune disorders.
Regis Philbin Will Be Missed
While it’s a stretch to say that repressed passions gave Alex Trebek cancer, that behavior is not going to help anyone heal.
Regis Philbin is another man together in a time when men were taught to be stoic. But times are changing. That behavior is showing its ineffectiveness.
Men need to learn how to empathize with. And they need help. Therapy, men’s groups like the MankindProject, and meditation can help.
Luckily, Regis Philbin styled it to the ripe old age of 88. With a little self-care, hopefully Alex Trebek can make it that far and beyond.
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Last modified: July 25, 2020 11:00 PM UTC