Rethinking the Placebo Effect

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Ian Pegler
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Rethinking the Placebo Effect

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from brainpickings.org...
Rethinking the Placebo Effect: How Our Minds Actually Affect Our Bodies

It has always been assumed that the placebo effect only works if people are conned into believing that they are getting an actual active drug. But now it seems this may not be true. Belief in the placebo effect itself — rather than a particular drug — might be enough to encourage our bodies to heal.
CLICK HERE to read the article.

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Maggie
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Re: Rethinking the Placebo Effect

Post by Maggie »

This is an old post, but such a very interesting topic. What if all healing is self-healing? Many of us believe in the body's ability to heal itself, given the right conditions. The placebo effect, in my opinion, is deserving of a ton of scientific research, but it isn't going to get it, because who's going to profit from it?

For those who would like to dive a bit deeper into this topic, Dr. Joe Dispenza's book "You Are The Placebo" is an interesting read. Here's a link to his website, where you can read more about him and also his books, etc: https://drjoedispenza.com/.

I have purchased his meditations and used them, and they felt powerful, but for some reason, they just didn't really resonate with me. I'll probably go back to them at a future time. I'm sure I have all kinds of subconscious beliefs about healing being 'hard'. :roll:

I think the placebo effect is such an interesting topic, and we just don't know enough about it to use it to advantage. If we could consciously harness it, healing would be a breeze. :) I'd love to hear if anyone is pursuing this and has any references or suggestions.
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Grahame
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Re: Rethinking the Placebo Effect

Post by Grahame »

Some years ago we had Dr David Hamilton as a speaker at BSD Conference. He used to work in the pharmaceutical industry researching new drugs, but was disillusioned as the placebo trials were turning out to be more effective than the corresponding drug trial, so he left.

I remember him being a very inspirational speaker - he talked for an hour without any visual aids or other props. He has a number of books out now and some interesting online courses available on his website.
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The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it - Terry Pratchett.
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Re: Rethinking the Placebo Effect

Post by Lynnie »

Grahame wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:10 am Some years ago we had Dr David Hamilton as a speaker at BSD Conference. He used to work in the pharmaceutical industry researching new drugs, but was disillusioned as the placebo trials were turning out to be more effective than the corresponding drug trial, so he left.

I remember him being a very inspirational speaker - he talked for an hour without any visual aids or other props. He has a number of books out now and some interesting online courses available on his website.
Graham, thank you posting a link to Dr Hamilton's website, very interesting. I've been listening to this video where he talks about using the mind to heal the body. I'm going to try this on some long standing health issues.





Cheers.
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Re: Rethinking the Placebo Effect

Post by Maggie »

Grahame wrote: Fri Dec 06, 2019 9:10 am Some years ago we had Dr David Hamilton as a speaker at BSD Conference. He used to work in the pharmaceutical industry researching new drugs, but was disillusioned as the placebo trials were turning out to be more effective than the corresponding drug trial, so he left.

I remember him being a very inspirational speaker - he talked for an hour without any visual aids or other props. He has a number of books out now and some interesting online courses available on his website.
Very nice website! It's lovely to see people acknowledging the power of intention and the mind and offering to teach people and empower them, instead of acting like it's some psychic mumbo-jumbo known to a few, and you either have it or you don't. Especially nice to see a PhD in chemistry talking about it. Seems to be the wave of the future. Hooray! Thanks for sharing that.
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