It's All in the Mind: Everything You Wanted to Know About the Placebo Effect

Often, when someone complains about not feeling well, we find ourselves saying, "It's all in your head." Little do we know how right we are. Here are some facts to help us understand the importance of this statement. Not only because of the spiritual weight of our words, but also because it is scientifically proven:

1. The placebo effect, known in Hebrew as a 'dummy drug' or 'invo,' is a phenomenon where various ailments, from physical pain to anxiety and mental pain, are treated with 'sham drugs'—sugar pills or herbal concoctions not scientifically proven to be effective for specific problems.

2. This fascinating phenomenon is familiar not only in medicine but also in psychology, philosophy, and more.

3. Placebo drugs have been widely used throughout history, dating back to the late 18th century. One example is Franz Mesmer's magnetic water, where he claimed to heal patients by 'magnetizing their animal spirits.' Of course, these were plain water, but several reports from that time show his patients were heavily influenced by the treatments, even fainting.

4. So how does this effect work? A great question. It involves two drugs that differ in form or color but are chemically similar. The outcomes of taking them can vary greatly from person to person, sometimes even being opposite.

5. A well-known issue in conventional medicine is the difficulty in predicting the effect of a new drug on patients. The burning question is whether the drug's impact will be real or merely a placebo effect.

6. Many approaches in complementary medicine rely on this effect.

7. The placebo effect is not just proved in medications but also in surgeries. Numerous studies have shown that sham surgeries, such as a small incision without invasive procedure, led patients to believe the surgery was successful, and the 'problem' disappeared.

8. In continuation of the previous point, a video game called RE-MISSION, showing the human body with cancer cells, asks players to eliminate as many cells as possible. Researchers studying the game's effect on children with cancer discovered something astonishing: the health of all the sick children who played improved remarkably. The reason: while playing, the children imagined destroying their own cancer cells with their hands. When they felt they had beaten the disease, its impact on them diminished.