Nocebo - beware of negative suggestions! |
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Most people had heard of the placebo effect, but relatively few have heard of the nocebo effect, even in the medicinal circles.
This phenomenon, which is in fact an evil twin of placebo effect, was named for the first time in 1961.
The nocebo effect is the ability of negative beliefs and expectations tohat cause damage, i.e. produce a negative effect in the body.
While the placebo effect causes positive results inof a treatment , which normally should not have any effect (e.g., sugar pill), the nocebo effect achieves a reverse result in health terms, due to the patient's negative the worst expectations.
We usually get what we expect, unfortunately.
The placebo effect is very powerful. R and regardless of whether the doctor and the patient are aware of it or not, it plays a significant part of the healing process during ain the treatment, both with the traditional or modern medical techniques. whether methods of ancient cultures or modern medicine techniques are used.
Doctors ignore the placebo effect
A large number of medical personnel are surprisingly indifferent to the placebo effect, although it workgoes in their favor. Maybe it is because the treatment seems less scientifically based ifn a placebo is used.
Drugs play their role, but understanding how the human mind processes information is very important.
If doctors do not want to hear about the placebo effect, just imagine what they would think of nocebo and the idea that what you say to a patient can cause a patient to become sicker
Of course, there are always exceptions and fortunately there are a growing number of doctors who think differently.
There is no explanation - and it still works!
Placebo and in particular nocebo effect, are not sufficiently studied, simply because there is still no way to scientifically explain these phenomena, although there are many scientifically proven results of both phenomena.
Also, pharmaceutical companies are not financially interested parties to carry out such studies, because there is nothing to be pattentrned there.
There is another good reason to dislike the implementation of nocebo experiment - the fact that a large number of people feel the way they were told they wouldill feel.
Since the effects caused by nocebo are negativehese are negative health effects, it is possible that this is why the scientist are reluctant to carry out such research.the cause of the lack of scientific research.
The nocebo effect can occur in several different situations:
1. The direct interaction between a doctor or a specialist and the patient, where each party has its own expectations.
The more the patient trusts the doctor, the greater the nocebo effectt is greater. For example - ifwhen a doctor gives negative a prognosis, sometimes even a "death sentence" to the patient, such as, . "yYou have just 3 more months of life," thoseat predictions mostly come true, even if the initial diagnosis was not correct!
2. General belief and expectation of patients outside the therapeutic setting.situation
3. Expectations and beliefs which are formed in certain groups.
We are more susceptible to negative suggestion
Observing a variety of scientific research of placebo and nocebo effects it has beenwas shown that the placebo effect (the belief that something positive will happen) is effective in on average 33% to -55% cases..
On the other hand, the nocebo effect (the belief that something negative will happen) has turned out to have an proved effective rate of astonishing 55% to -100%.
This means that we are twice as susceptible to negative as to positive suggestion.
Bad prognosis endanger health
To say to a person that his/her days are numbered is very detrimental, as well as educatingto educat e the nation that it is normal to expect certain ailment in certain age.
Unfortunately, we see such articles in our newspapers every day, and even more unfortunately, they are supported by the statements of experts who are obviously unnot aware of the damage they are causing to people, and what of thekind of help they are offering to pharmaceutical companies.
I always remember the words of Dr. David Pesek, a recognized world authority on the emotional aspect of IIridology: “When a doctor tells us that we can expect a disease, because it is in our family, we need to escape from such a doctor and seek another as soon as possible.”
"Nocebo effect often causes physical changes, although these effects are not caused by any physical means," said Irving Kirsch, a psychologist at the University of Connecticut, who studies the ways in which expectations affect human experience.
"What is the cause? In many cases, this question remains unanswered."
People vomited – because of sugar water
- The volunteers, in one experiment were told that a low voltage current wouldill be passed through their head , and that it couldan cause a headache. During the experiment no current was used, but and two-thirds of the volunteers still got a headache.
- The group of patients in the hospital was given sugar water, which they thought was a drug that causes vomiting. 80% of the group vomited sugar water.
- Research with aspirin and other agents that dilute the blood was conducted in three medical centers with unexpected results. At two locations, patients wereare warned about potential stomach problems, which are often side-effectcontraindications of a frequent use of aspirin.
At the third location the patients did not receive such a warning. When the results of the experiment were processed, the researchers were surprised to seewhen they saw that the two groups that were alerted about the contraindications showed three times higher frequency of stomach problems occurrence.
Have you or your loved ones, ever experienced the effects of nocebo?
About the author: Jasmina Kovačev is a third level EFT therapist and international instructor according to AMMET standard.
Subscribe for the EFT seminar here: [url=http://www.pokazimi.hr/]http://www.pokazimi.hr/[/url]
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