An initiative of ASPEN (Authors' Self-Publishing Enterprise)

NURTURING POTENTIAL

in Education, Personal Growth, Health, Relationships, Business and others 


Volume 4 - No.1 -  2005


 

Therapy

'A sad soul can kill you quicker than a germ.' - John Steinbeck

 

Think Yourself Unhealthy - by Sep Meyer 

We know all about the Placebo Effect, a phenomenon that has been identified,  explored and documented for a considerable time.   The basic premise is that a patient's positive expectations about an intervention will result in a positive effect on the outcome.

There seems little doubt, no matter how much of a sceptic one is, that our minds and our mental processes, can exert a considerable influence over our bodily responses.  Thus, with placebos, the effect of prescribing a drug or a technique, that is described as having certain curative properties, will result in a varying proportion of cases and to a varying degree, in effecting a cure (albeit temporary) in the medical condition being treated.

What has not been recognised until fairly recent times is that the Placebo Effect has a reverse side.  The belief that something will be harmful to us, if taken seriously on board, will equally tend to produce the damaging condition that we fear.  This has been termed the Nocebo Effect and is here examined by Sep Meyer.