Placebo Effect Gone Wrong

We’ve all heard the belief packaged in a number of different expressions that our thoughts ultimately become reality. What we think and where we focus tends to be what happens. Believe you’re going to get better by taking a pill, and science has shown that a lot of the time you actually will. Believe in what you’re doing, and the body will tend to find a way to get it done. The mind is an incredibly powerful tool.

We all know the placebo effect, but when can it go wrong? After all, if we’re able to manifest a positive reality based on expectation, can we also not achieve the same based on negative forecasting? Turns out that in many placebo case studies, those who take the same sugar pill as the placebo group often experience opposite of healing effects. They experience vomiting, fatigue, and nausea. Why? Is it because the pill was different than those who reported feeling better? No, it was the same. However, the expectation was different. Those who experienced negative reactions were simply told that they might.

The Nocebo Effect is very real. It draws our focus towards negative outcomes and creates a self fulfilling prophecy.

Your thinking is powerful. Wield it carefully.

-Dave