Is The Placebo Effect Actually Real?

Millions of people who suffer from injuries or illness have heard about the placebo effect, but many of them continue to doubt its efficacy, arguing that it sounds far too good to be true. There are actually compelling reasons to believe that the placebo effect does indeed produce tremendous results in some patients, yet many doubters persist in asserting that it’s pseudoscience with no facts to back it. In reality, harnessing the power of the mind to achieve medical results is indeed possible, as using placebo effects elsehwere – like in the business world – can also be a roaring success.

Here’s what you need to know about the placebo effect, and why you should be convinced of its effectiveness. 

Medical experts agree on its efficacy

According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the placebo effect is best described as a “beneficial health outcome resulting from a person’s anticipation that an intervention will help.” In other words, you can trick your mind into thinking that your body is being helped by a forthcoming treatment option, even if it’s an inert substance that doesn’t actually deliver anything special to your body. “Mind over matter,” as the saying goes, is evidently true in many instances. 

Demonstrable health benefits and cognitive changes to how your brain functions may seem impossible to achieve with inert substances that don’t actually possess any medicine, but medical experts have discovered that this tactic works time and time again. Research has even illustrated that so-called “open placebos,” or placebo treatments where people are made aware of the fact that it’s a placebo before consuming it, can produce positive results in patients. Modern medical technology is astounding – it’s easier to get a cheap MRI with the help of a personal injury lawyer or a test for various genetic illnesses these days than ever before – but sometimes all that it takes is a placebo to deliver results. 

As the Harvard Men’s Health Watch points out, your mind is an incredibly powerful healing tool if you give it the opportunity to help mend your body. They can’t deliver miraculous results, of course, so there’s no ending cancer or solving a brain tumor with the help of a placebo, but for mild conditions in many patients they can seriously help deliver relief to those who are otherwise bereft of comfort. 

Various things can boost the placebo effect – good branding that leads consumers to think that the medicine they’re consuming is more potent than it actually is can lead to positive medical results, for instance. The color of the pill in question could change how people perceive it in their minds. In some instances, taking more placebo pills at once can yield greater results than only taking a few of them. You should always contact a medical professional before ingesting any substance you’re unfamiliar with, however, and refuse placebo treatments from those who lack valid medical certifications. Even placebo surgeries have been shown to have some effect, proving just how bright a future the field of placebo treatments is facing.