The word ‘placebo’ has a certain feel to it: “that was just placebo,” “it’s only a placebo,” “that drug performed no better than placebo.” When people hear the word placebo, it’s associated with a treatment that’s either not good enough or simply inert.
It can take quite a long time for cultural consciousness to catch up with current medical thinking. While in the past the placebo effect was considered a sign of failure, our thinking around it has since evolved. It is now understood that there are complex neurological processes going on behind the scenes which impact the body, sometimes causing symptoms and ailments to heal without any other treatment. How it all works remains a bit of a mystery, but the placebo effect – and its twin, the nocebo effect, have proven to be powerful agents of healing. Rather than being a sign of failure, the placebo effect could be something very different – an important clue as to the power of the mind.
What in the world is the ‘nocebo effect’?
The nocebo effect is actually exactly the same as the placebo effect, only its effects occur in the opposite direction. Where the placebo effect is a positive loop leading to resolution of symptoms or the success of a treatment due to a patient’s belief, the nocebo effect is a negative loop leading to the advent of symptoms of the failure of a treatment due to a patient’s belief.
For instance, you may have been prescribed a new medication. Out of anxiety or skepticism, you may have looked up the side-effects for the medication, or the success rate for treating an ailment, which may not be one hundred percent. The nocebo effect, or your negative expectation of the treatment, can actually cause side-effects to arise that you otherwise wouldn’t have experienced. Additionally, because you have the expectation that the treatment won’t work, nocebo can convince your body that it won’t, even if it otherwise would have!
What is even more mind-blowing is that nocebo effects can occur with placebo treatments. This means that if a doctor gives you a sugar pill and you think it is a medication that causes migraines, rashes, and panic attacks – then you are more likely to experience all of those side-effects, even though all you have consumed is a tiny portion of sugar in a capsule. The mind generates physical symptoms, even visible symptoms such as a rash, with only a negative expectation and a pill.
How can we use this?
The exact way in which the placebo and nocebo effects work is not currently understood, but we do know one thing: they are both real. What can this tell us about the mind? More importantly, in the context of therapy and mental health, what can this tell us about the power of thought and belief? How can our expectations change the way we experience life? What positive and negative loops do we currently travel because of what we believe about ourselves, other people, and the world?
What if things could be different?
Maybe the mind can’t move mountains. But we’re not mountains, and the mind moves us every time we get up out of bed, every time we brush our teeth or play sports or hug a loved one. The mind makes us light and bouncy when we’re excited, or heavy and slow when we feel dread. But has gravity changed, or do we suddenly not have energy in the body? The shift in feeling can happen in an instant. Nothing has changed, actually, other than what we think and feel.
Therapy can help us discover our loops, our perceptions and beliefs, and it gives us the chance to choose something different – something that will make our lives better. Book with us here to talk to a therapist and get started on your journey.
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