I’ve heard and read studies about it treating a multitude of mental things and lessen physical pain but like how? Is it real? I’m lost.
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Imagine you take a group of 10 kids who all have a tummy ache. You get them all together and give all of them identical little tablets that you say is medicine to fix their tummy ache. However, in truth only 5 of them got the actual medicine, and the other 5 got a piece of candy that looks exactly like the medicine.
The 5 pieces of candy are known as placebos – you made the kids *think* they got the medicine, even though they didn’t. All 10 of the kids believe they got the medicine to fix their tummy aches, and you recorded who got the actual medicine and who got the candy.
After a day or so you ask all of them how they’re feeling and compare their results with what you actually gave them. The expectation is that the 5 kids who got actual medicine will report that they feel better, while the 5 who got candy probably don’t feel better.
If that is the case, then you know the medicine was effective at treating the tummy ache. If they all report that they don’t feel better then you know that the medicine you gave was not effective. If all of them report that they feel better, then there may be other factors you need to explore to determine what cured them – sometimes giving a placebo is enough to trigger a psychological effect that makes them believe they are better, even if they aren’t actually any better.
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