If you saw the recent Horizon programme ‘The power of the placebo’ you may have been as amazed and fascinated as me to discover how some minds can be ‘tricked’ into actually believing that they are being given powerful drugs which will have a definite physiological effect, when all the time they are just being given a placebo or ‘dummy’ pill.

The most incredible example of how powerful placebo can be was the case of the man from Vancouver who had Parkinson’s disease. He had been deprived of his medication for some time and was suffering from the crippling effects of the disease and then when he was treated with drugs he immediately felt better, could straighten up and be fully mobile. All this happened even though he had actually been given no medication at all, merely placebo.

Even people given placebo pills knowingly seemed to experience a relief of their symptoms, as in the case of the woman with IBS who actually tried to buy placebo pills from a health food store after the three week clinical trial was over. Whilst on the trial her IBS symptoms were completely eradicated, only to return again once she stopped taking the placebo pills.

Whilst watching the programme I had a strange feeling that in some sense I am a placebo operative, as, whilst I do not hand out medication, I do allow people to entertain an expectation that they will feel better. And, sure enough, the programme actually explored the use of hypnosis as a type of placebo, showing a dentist using a hypnotic trance as anaesthesia for surgical removal of a tooth. The man in question was asked about the level of pain he felt while the tooth was being pulled, and it was minimal – on a scale of 0-10, no more than a 4, whereas it would normally be about 9.

It was stressed during the course of the programme that part of the placebo effect comes from the patient’s belief and trust in the medical practitioner. Treatments seemed to work much better if the patient was offered the right amount of care, attention and kindness.

I have a strong belief that we all have within us natural painkillers, mood chemicals, powerful in-built drugs which – given the right help and techniques – we can harness for our ultimate wellbeing.

I am ever hopeful that the mainstream are beginning to recognise this too.

Best wishes,
Wendy x