2024/02/16 by Juliana de Oliveira Guerra
#belief #nocebo #placebo #psychosomatization #reflective diary
paper · doi:10.5526/esj.342
The placebo and nocebo effects affect the brain and the unconscious mind in mysterious ways. In this reflection, I elaborate on how these treatments with sugar pills can relate to psychosomatization, beliefs, magic, nudging, and perceptual illusions, and how they are conceptualized. I reflect about the definition of placebo and associate its function to cerebral areas. By using analogies, examples, experiments, and some of my own previous experiences, and associating them with different subjects, I conclude placebo and nocebo happen because the brain is prone and designed to believe. Finally, placebos have a much wider impact beyond altering the experience of pain.