“THE PLACEBO EFFECT” and how it works :

I learnt about the Placebo Effect in an introductory psychology class. I had never heard of it before. The Placebo Effect, as described, is a way of developing a positive attitude in a patient and helping him heal faster by using optimism. But how does it actually work?

I read about an experiment where there were two groups of patients kept in separate rooms. One group was given the actual drug to cure their pain and the other was given a fake drug but they were not told that it was fake. Both the groups were asked questions about how they were feeling after consuming the drug. Both of them gave a positive response. So what actually happened here? Did the actual drug not work or was it the placebo effect?

As I read more about such experiments, the patients reported having felt better after taking the fake drug. This cannot be a coincidence, right? The way the placebo effect works biologically is not known but I believe that the belief, “everything is going to be okay” contributes a lot. The placebo effect is basically a creation of fake optimism in one’s mind and hence helping him heal. This fake optimism helps the brain to think positively and hence releases stress. But does this placebo effect actually cure the pain? I believe that depends on what kind of pain it is.

Placebos give mental relief. If we observe ourselves, most of our pain is due to the stress we take on. We tend to think too much into it and hence it increases our pain. I believe that placebo is successful in reducing our emotional pain but not our physical pain. We do need actual medicines to keep us on track and to help us get better for real. But does that mean the placebo effect is a failure? I don’t think so. Research shows that it is helpful in patients with insomnia and also in helping people struggling with cancer side effects. It helps them to think positively and hence believe in the drug. But the placebo effect does not cure us. It makes the pain go away to some extent but without proper treatment, it is not possible to get cured. Hence, it can be called successful as well as a failure.

To conclude, a placebo effect helps build up emotional strength which develops optimism.

— Riya Shipurkar