If the placebo effect works by tricking the brain, why does it need to be tricked if it’s apparently able to solve the issue on its own?

Question

If the placebo effect works by tricking the brain, why does it need to be tricked if it’s apparently able to solve the issue on its own?

In: 6662

Answer 1

After reading a few comments, I haven’t seen anyone mention this: the placebo effect still occurs even when the patient is aware it’s just a placebo. It works better when the placebo takes a certain form (eg: sugar pills have a stronger effect than drinking sugar water; if I recall correctly, IV sugar water works better than pills). So we really don’t know why it works the way it does.