The Placebo Effect

We are all aware of the reality of the placebo effect. This is the very real affect that an dummy sugar pill can have in real healing for some patients, when told by their doctor that it will work. This effect is so accepted to modern medicine that all rigorous scientific studies must contain a control group on such dummy treatments, to guage whether a treatment is the cause of a result, or merely the perception of being cared for.

Whilst no-one argues the placebo effect is real, the implications of this have not yet been felt in most western doctor’s approaches to medicine. How often have you felt that your doctor emotionally believed in your ability to overcome any odds? It has been found that holding the hand of a patient under general anesthetic calms the body in times of stress and leads to better outcomes. When was the last time your doctor held your hand as they discussed your health?

The Nocebo Effect

What is perhaps even more disturbing than the lack of positive treatments not yet developed by western doctors, is the fact that just as the placebo affect occurs, so does its opposite - the ‘nocebo’ effect. In fact, this effect is widely acknowledged as fact in medicine. In the past, a surgeon may have expressed shock or said out loud how much worse the prognosis may seem to him or her during surgery - feeling safe in the fact that the patient was unconscious. In fact, it has been found that even unconscious patients are aware of every word said during surgery (just as they are aware that their hand is held). As a general rule, surgeons are told not to make any negative comments whilst performing their work.

Whether this has been successfully implemented in all hospitals is a moot point. One only has to remember one’s own experience when one is awake to see that there is still a long way to go. Just as a doctor can convince you that a dummy drug will work, they can also unknowingly convince you that a real drug will not work, if they do not like your statistical chances. A mere quivering in his voice, or lack of eye contact, may be enough to do the damage.

What to do?

If you have a doctor that you feel may be giving you a ‘nocebo’ effect, do not be afraid to change doctors. Such actions are now seen as not best practice, and other aspects of their treatment may be similarly out of date. Your doctor should be, in all cases, actively promoting and supporting your cure, not subconsciously leading you towards illness they are predicting.

Further Reading

Stay tuned for a future article that takes the implications of this reality a step further. If your doctor is able to convince you that you will not get well, could they also subconsciously convince you that you have a certain disease? While suffering from real symptoms that can lead to real and grave effects, could it be perhaps you are not ‘really’ ill, after all?

Have you had negative experiences with western doctors? How might have you been affected by a “nocebo” effect?