Taking a sugar pill can sometimes lead to real improvements in health. How does believing in a treatment, even when it’s fake, trigger physical changes in our bodies?
In: Biology
So part of the “placebo effect” is actually statistical, not biological.
Say you get 100 people, they currently have the flu (chosen because we don’t really have a cure for it). Most of them will eventually get better right? and because they’re sick right NOW, they’re likely at a worse period.
So they take a placebo, and the other half takes the drug. 50 of those placebo-people will naturally heal, some better, some will have complications. 50 of those drug-people will also naturally heal, and have complications.
So in the end both seem to have “positive effects”… (and the negative effects are often attributed to the disease/flu just getting worse normally). See: regression to the mean btw.
Even outside that, often people will compare their “bad days” with their “good days” and start attributing the placebo to the “good days” they’re having. (aka its a problem with self reporting)
(There are studies specifically about the placebo effect. That often show the person themselves say they’re doing better, but things like “how often did they cough up their lungs” didn’t actually change. So the patient had simply convinced themselves they were doing better)
Finally there is ofc the physiological affects. These often affect things like depression, pain perception, etc. Which are all mental-related (tho not always), so the body CAN do stuff about it.
P.S> See: Regression to the mean
P.S> See: Mass Hysteria also
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