What is the Placebo Effect and why is it so Powerful?

Taken from here

"Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself." Robert Collier 

I keep getting behaviourally retargeted with ads for the latest Placebo album at the moment - its got me thinking about the Placebo Effect.  The placebo effect has been known about for generations by doctors, and underlies the incredible power of our minds to heal the body.

I first came across the placebo effect some years ago when my doctor offered me prescription drugs to sort out some severe chest pains I was experiencing at the time. In 5 days the pains in my chest were gone, brilliant! The next time I saw the doctor and explained my relief, he responded with, "The restorative powers of sugar are incredible aren't they..." What...I'd been given sugar pills? At first I felt a bit cheated. I was a university student who had just spent £10 on sugar pills when I could have spent it on booze instead. What a rip off! 

However, my mindset changed when I started thinking how this sugar pill could possibly have made me better. This is where my research began.  It all comes down to how powerful our minds are at influencing the body, and in particular, our belief systems. I just knew that those painkillers would sort out my chest pain, I didn't even need to think about it. How could painkillers fail? It just does what is says on the tin. This If we believe something, it directs our subconscious to do everything in its power to prove that belief right, and this in turn makes the necessary changes within our bodies. The concept of the self being an autonomous being is a deeply held belief in western civilisation, but we affect each other all the time. If our doctors wholeheartedly believe that the treatments they are giving us have every chance of working, we are more likely to believe it too. If a doctor's influence makes us feel more positive about our health, it will make us more optimistic, and our optimism has a direct effect on our health.

Yes this picture is a bit creepy

When testing the placebo effect, Tor D Wager conducted a study in 2004 with a placebo cream he told the subjects would take away pain. He then inflicted pain on them and watched them in an MRI scanner. Those who had been given the cream (the control group had nothing) showed "placebo effect patterns" in the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain activates when anticipating pain relief and triggers a reduction of activity in pain-sensing areas of the brain. Wager suggests that this interplay within the prefrontal cortex may also trigger a release of pain-relieving opioids in the midbrain. Wow, we can relieve pain without any drugs! 

Incredibly, a recently published study declared that

Taken from here

97% of 783 GPs admitted that they had recommended a placebo to a patient. This indicates that most of you reading this will have been prescribed a placebo at some point in your life. The likelihood is, however, that it had exactly the same effect as the conventional medicine you thought you were getting. Our minds are THAT powerful.  Placebo's can come in the form of sugar or chalk pills to heal various ailments, and have even been used in surgery, known as Sham Surgery, where the surgeon makes an incision into the patient, then seals them up without doing anything. In many cases, the patient's symptoms magically disappear... 

Next time you visit your GP and you are prescribed drugs, be mindful of the doctor's beliefs.  Ask him how successful the drug is? What is the success rate?  Then judge your body's response on what the doctor has told you to expect.