“I feel so much better!”: Unveiling the Mystery Of the Placebo Effect
April 9, 2024
Writer: Reilly French
Editor: Sonia Walke
Our minds are often considered more powerful than our bodies. Our minds allow us to see things in different physical and mental lights that may or may not even be there. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines placebo as “a usually pharmacologically inert preparation prescribed more for the mental relief of the patient than for its actual effect on a disorder.” The placebo effect commonly used in medical fields can trick the mind and body into thinking that healing is being done for them or controlled by medicine.
The placebo effect is more common in treatment strategies by physicians than one might think, but this is a very controversial subject. The National Institute of Health did a research study to see how many doctors prescribed a placebo. This study found that about 72% of doctors treated patients via placebos, most commonly vitamin placebos (Aujla et al.). Physicians from this study agreed that this is controversial and may not make the patient happy if they find out. Still, this can be beneficial if appropriately studied and done professionally. Often, a placebo is prescribed when a patient is insistent on unnecessary treatment for the symptoms at hand. Patients are also prescribed when suffering from an incurable disease or do not have a set of symptoms that allows for a specific diagnosis (Khneizer and Desai).
Nowadays, doctors do not prescribe placebos without informing their patients what they are doing. Without telling their patients, this would be considered deception, against the ethical rules of doctors, and socially unacceptable in 2024 (Labos). A commonly seen and known placebo pill, though, is the sugar pills often found in birth control pill packs. These are not necessarily to trick your mind into believing something else but rather to deceive your body. The sugar pills at the end of your month on birth control allow your body to mimic its cycle and have a period, causing a drop in hormone levels (nurx™). The placebo pill is also there to help you stay on track with taking birth control and has no real medical effect.
But what happens to your mind when you take a placebo pill? Research suggests that your body releases natural pain relievers, such as endorphins, when taking a placebo pill as your mind believes it needs the process to heal, triggering the brain's reaction. Research also suggests that you are in an altered brain state when you consider taking something that is healing you. Your brain thinks of how it felt before symptoms occurred and tries to replicate the feeling again to ‘heal’ (Department of Health & Human Services). Placebos allow your body to heal itself; the pills are just an encouragement to do so and trick your body into beginning the process of helping itself. Another study looked at pain in the knee before and after taking a placebo pill. The research showed “that those who felt pain relief had greater activity in the middle frontal gyrus brain region, which makes up about one-third of the frontal lobe” (Harvard Health Publishing). The frontal lobe plays a big part in executive functioning and how we respond to certain situations (Raz et al.).
The placebo effect represents a fascinating relationship between mind and body. It offers insights into the power of mind over matter experience and how that can affect our physical health and bodily response. Though this topic is controversial and is often an ethical issue, acknowledging and exploring the placebo effect allows us to see the interplay between mental and physical health in our understanding of human physiology.
Work Cited
Aujla, Ravinder Singh, et al. “Perception and Practice of Placebo Use among Physicians in Mangalore.” Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 26 Mar. 2020, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7266198/#:~:text=About%2072%25%20of%20physicians%20were%20found%20to%20be%20prescribing%20placebos.
Birth Control Faqs - NurxTM, www.nurx.com/faq/category/birth-control-faqs/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024.
Khneizer, Gebran, and Roshani Desai. “Placebo Use in Medicine: Use, Abuse & Therapy.” Missouri Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2022, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9762224/#:~:text=Healthcare%20providers%20often%20have%20different,providing%20treatment%20for%20nonspecific%20symptoms.
“Placebo Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placebo. Accessed 8 Apr. 2024.
Labos, Christoper. “Placebo Effect Is Real, and Complicated.” Office for Science and Society, 8 Dec. 2023, www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/placebo-effect-real-and-complicated#:~:text=As%20a%20general%20rule%2C%20doctors,in%20this%20day%20and%20age.
“Placebo Effect.” Better Health Channel, Department of Health & Human Services, 15 Feb. 2002, www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/placebo-effect.
“The Power of the Placebo Effect.” Harvard Health, 13 Dec. 2021, www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect.
Raz, Amir, et al. “Placebos in Medicine: Knowledge, Beliefs, and Patterns of Use.” McGill Journal of Medicine : MJM : An International Forum for the Advancement of Medical Sciences by Students, U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2008, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2582662/.
