There are many phenomenona in this world that great minds and scientists have yet to fully understand, like the placebo effect, which occurs when the human brain believes something enough to produce the desired outcome. For example, a patient can be prescribed a placebo (a prescribed medicine, treatment or procedure that has no medicinal value, like a simple sugar pill) for a headache, but because they believe it is the real thing, they feel the same pain relief as they would if they had taken the real medicine. Their brain expects the placebo to work and somehow, manifests improvement.

The placebo effect is a complex neurobiological reaction, which shows us the incredible connection between the brain and the body. It has been measured in thousands of experiments and shows self-healing results. It means we have the power to heal ourselves with our minds and beliefs.

Drug companies have to prove their drugs work better than a placebo before they are approved.

We read that placebos can reduce the symptoms of a range of conditions like pain, nausea, headaches, asthma, fatigue, epilepsy, erectile dysfunction, anxiety, depression and Parkinson’s. It is also said that patients who have negative feelings toward the placebo can produce a negative effect, which is called a nocebo effect. It all depends on the patient and what they believe.

It sounds like placebos will be used more in modern medicine and we can see why. Placebo drugs are cheap to produce, they have no side-effects and they can change the way we all look at medicine. Drug companies are learning that even the color of a pill can produce different effects, meaning there are more psychological connections to healing than we think.

If you take medicine out of the picture, we can all use the placebo effect as a reminder that what we think and believe affects our reality. Focusing on negative thoughts, telling one’s self they are unworthy and acting out negatively are mental nocebos that keep us in states of unhappiness. Positive thinking, believing in one’s self, meditation, dream boards, motivational techniques and positive mantras are mental placebos we can use to better our lives. We just have to learn to control our thoughts and actions to produce our desired results.