HE ALTH & HE ALIN G
The placebo effect – is it ‘only’ in the mind?
Often the placebo effect is brushed off as being ‘only in the mind.’ But hang on a minute – doesn’t it
actually prove how incredibly powerful the mind is, and that whatever we believe in shapes our reality? by Liisa Halme
YOU’VE HEARD OF THE PLACEBO EFFECT, RIGHT? A placebo (Latin for ‘I shall please’) is any medical treatment that is inactive, such as saline solution or a starch tablet. Around one third of people who take placebos (thinking they are taking medication) experience measurable, observable improvement in health or behaviour, or an end to their symptoms. This is called the placebo effect. It is one of the least understood phenomena found in human physiology and psychology. In all medical trials and studies about 30% of all drug effects are shown to be placebo effect, sometimes much greater.
THE POWER OF FAITH Often the placebo effect is brushed off as being ‘only in the mind.’ But hang on a minute, doesn’t it actually prove how
8 APRIL 2017
incredibly powerful the mind is, and that whatever we believe shapes our reality? It must be valuable to investigate
further what makes a placebo so effective so that we can use the extremely powerful entity that is our brain to heal ourselves without the use of harsh pharmaceuticals with their multitude of adverse side-effects. If 30% of people find improvement to their health and symptoms merely by taking a fake medication that they believe to be real, imagine what we could change if we learned to intelligently harness this incredible power within us, the power of faith.
HOW DOES IT WORK? Doctors still have questions about how placebo effect works, but here are some ways it contributes to our healing. Some of it may be due to
altered perception: our interpretation of our symptoms may change with the expectation of feeling better. For example, a sharp pain may be reinterpreted as an uncomfortable tingling. Expecting to feel better soothes the autonomic nervous system and reduces the levels of stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol, reducing anxiety. Faith we have in the placebo may trigger the release of the body’s own natural painkillers, the brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) known as endorphins, while altering brain state. The brain responds to an imagined or visualised scene in much the same way as it responds to an actual live one. A placebo may help our brain to remember a time before the onset of symptoms, and then bring about physiological change. This theory is called ‘remembered wellness’.
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