Re:What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?
by nradov on Wednesday November 07, 2018 @08:49AM
(#18399043)
Has anyone studied whether there is an opposite anti-placebo effect? Like if a patient lacks confidence in their doctor and doesn't believe that a real medicine will actually work, is it less likely to be effective?
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Re:What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?
by aurbano on Wednesday November 07, 2018 @08:53AM
(#18399068)
That sounds like the nocebo effect maybe? From the Wikipedia page [1]:
> A nocebo effect is said to occur when negative expectations of the patient regarding a treatment cause the treatment to have a more negative effect than it otherwise would have.
Re:What if the Placebo Effect Isn’t a Trick?
by fjuerfilis on Wednesday November 07, 2018 @10:20AM
(#18399669)
Yes, it's the nocebo effect. I personally think it figures prominently in psychosomatic pathologies actually.
People with [psycho]somatic symptom disorders, with medically unexplained symptoms, are more likely to report negative side effects in response to placebo, for example.
When I've read about it, the research is often focused on perceived negative symptoms rather than lack of therapeutic effect, but that's just my impression and I suspect both happen.