Oleksiy Boyko/Alamy Source: www.alamy.com
What is it exactly that provides the healing effect of a placebo treatment? (continued)
Peter Slessenger
Reading, Berkshire, UK
The placebo effect relies on the subject knowing that they are taking or doing something, and so some ceremony, however informal, is involved. This wasn’t mentioned in previous answers to this question (21 May).
There are ceremonies for awarding credit, such as graduations, marriages and birthday parties, and for humiliation, such as court hearings. Each has a psychological effect, as does taking a tablet.
I know someone prescribed an SSRI antidepressant in case of stress, who, on experiencing a panic…
