When we were children, we often feel sick. In my experience, when I fell sick, my grandmother would gently place her hand on my forehead recite verses, and perform prayers for my welfare. And miraculously enough, after her prayers, my symptoms would begin to subside. It felt like pure magic to a young mind like me. Like such events, many cultures have traditional healing practices that involve prayers or rituals. And it works like a charm too. Ever wonder how these methods worked? What are the factors here? What influences our body metabolism that cures us?
The experience that I shared is a classic example of the ‘Placebo Effect’. The placebo effect is the oldest and still one of the most effective medical interventions. Although this effect of the placebo may run against intuition, it is nonetheless well-documented, and its implications for medicine and psychology cannot be belittled.
Understanding the Placebo Effect
The classical example of the placebo effect is the sugar pill. A person may be given a sugar pill and told that this is a strong medicine. The symptoms could improve by actually inducing physiological changes in the body as a result of a belief that such medication will work.
How Does the Placebo Effect Work?
The exact mechanisms underlying the placebo effect are still being studied, but researchers have identified several key factors:
Classical Conditioning: When a person repeatedly associates a neutral stimulus (like a pill) with a positive outcome (like pain relief), their body can learn to respond to the neutral stimulus alone.
Expectation: A person’s belief or expectation about the effectiveness of a treatment can influence their brain’s response to that treatment.
Endorphins and Other Neurotransmitters: The placebo effect may involve the release of endorphins and other neurotransmitters that can reduce pain and improve mood.
The Placebo Effect in Medicine
The placebo effect has far-reaching consequences for medical research and its application. During clinical trials, scientists quite frequently conduct placebo-controlled studies aimed to test a new treatment approval. Such a comparison is needed because the results obtained from taking an active drug may include contributions from other mechanisms, not only from the active ingredient alone but from other factors as well. The placebo effect, on the other hand, presents a few hurdles as well. For example, if patients in a control group are given a placebo and some of them show remarkably favorable results in regard to the treatment, it is not quite straightforward to reliably affirm the validity of the treatment. That is why it is of great importance to take the placebo effect into account while planning effective controlled studies and while analyzing data obtained from medical research.
The Power of the Mind
Our experiences reflect our thoughts and beliefs. Negative thoughts, upon holding our focus, may open up an invitation of more negativity toward us by building a self-fulfilling prophecy. While a positive attitude and belief may give one the chance to be more open to happiness, success, and fulfillment. The mind is also a strong healing tool, as thinking positively and visualization were proven to help individuals overcome certain illnesses or recover from some maladies, or improve their well-being.
The placebo effect is one interesting phenomenon that plainly points out the interaction between the mind and body. It somehow sounds contrary to the intuition that this effect, though well documented, does have major implications in medicine and psychology. It follows that our health and well-being can be enriched countlessly by harnessing the power of the mind.
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Writer,
Abdul Ahad Bin Feroz
Intern, Content Writing Department,
YSSE.