Placebo and the Power of the Mind

OK. My excuse for posting links instead of writing my own stuff is that my tooth is still bad.

An interesting subject the placebo effect , and the power of our mind.

My son tipped me to this article in The Independent, about the placebo effect .

Antidepressants : Spot the Difference

Makes me wonder if my distrust of doctors and drugs is holding me back .


"Bizarrely, passivity is the key to a strong placebo response. Put yourself in the hand of a powerful individual and trust them to do you good. Small wonder that witch doctors have wielded such therapeutic power. "The less involved you are in actively thinking your way through a process, the more likely they are to have a good response," says Dr Kradin. "If one gets very active in controlling the disease, in my experience, it can have negative effects. It's exactly what healing used to be like in the past. The faith that people had in their physician was a critical part of their healing."

Here's the book . (Not cheap)


Another very good, although I found it a bit nerdy; article on the same subject .
How sad that doctors have never exploited the power of faith.

The Placebo effect


And the more it costs the more you believe in it . When I was at the pharmacy getting antibiotics, the woman ahead of me was very upset.The pharmacist said she had to get the generic brand of the drug she needed because her drug plan wouldn't cover it otherwise. She insisted that only the name brand one worked and left in a huff.
I have to admit I always buy Advil , even though I know the store brand Ibuprofen, is the same.

Now if I could just find a doctor I really, truly, trust. Maybe this guy I will see in June will be the one.