“The placebo effect is not a trick, a flaw or an error - it is a vital and profoundly complex process that has evolved to help us heal”
It’s the phenomenon that occurs when a person experiences a positive health outcome after taking an inactive medicine or treatment. The placebo effect offers powerful insight into the mind’s power over our body's healing processes.
For example, when a patient receives a sugar pill instead of an actual medication they may still report feeling better, even though the sugar pill has no physiological effect. This effect has been observed in a wide range of conditions, including pain, depression, anxiety, and even Parkinson's disease.
How it works
The placebo effect is at the heart of a groundbreaking field called psychoneuroimmunology. This field studies the mind-body connection and how our thoughts and emotions can affect our immune system and our body’s ability to heal.
What happens on a physiological level is that when a person believes that a treatment will work, the brain releases chemicals and hormones that activate the immune system and promote healing. This can result in an improvement in symptoms, even if the treatment itself has no effect.
The field of psychoneuroimmunology is in its early stages and researchers are still working to understand the precise mechanisms behind the placebo effect and how it can be harnessed to improve health outcomes. It’s a complex field of study that involves many different factors and mechanisms, including stress, social interactions and environment.
What it means
One potential application of the placebo effect is in the development of new treatments for chronic pain. Because pain is a subjective experience, it can be difficult to measure objectively, and many traditional pain medications have significant side effects. However, research has shown that placebos can be effective in reducing pain, even in patients who have been taking medication for years.
By understanding the mechanisms behind the placebo effect, researchers may be able to develop new treatments that harness the power of the mind-body connection to promote healing and well-being.
Use ‘placebo power’ in your own life
It’s all about positive thought. Research shows that if you believe in an outcome, it’s more likely to manifest. This is the essence of why visualization and affirmations are powerful tools - they help to create a clear mental picture of the desired outcome, and this can then lead to real-world results. Simply by focusing on positive thoughts and intentions, you can tap into the power of the placebo effect and activate your body's innate ability to heal itself.
In sum, the placebo effect is providing medicine with an unprecedented understanding of how the mind and body work together to promote healing, that can revolutionize healthcare as we know it. Can you imagine developing safe and effective treatments that tap into the body's natural healing powers? Stay tuned as this exciting research unfolds!
For more reading
Learn more about the field of psychoneuroimmunology in Shamini Jain, PhD’s latest book “Healing Ourselves: Biofield Science and the Future of Health.”
Sara Schaefer, PhD is a nutrition scientist, holistic health advocate and founder of rootsofwellness.us