Fantastic essay as always, thank you! But the picture is from the wrong century : ) that’s Henry ward Beecher, the famous 19th century preacher and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s brother. Dr Beecher apparently isn’t even distantly related to the famous Beecher family, he seems to have changed his name when moving to Boston to give people the false impression he was… it does seem to have helped him gain prominence - a placebo effect from a name!
Roger, I think you are overlooking something that could explain the placebo's power - the need to be taken care of, and the association between taking a pill and memories of childhood that people carry. They probably remember, at least subconsciously, their mother lovingly giving their child an aspirin or cough syrup when they were sick, probably in bed, with a cough, cold or sore throat. The mother would say "this will make you feel better", thereby unknowingly teaching the child, incorrectly, that being given a pill makes them feel better, when it was the mother's love coupled with bed rest, sleep and some home-made remedies like chicken soup, 7 up, or your chest being rubbed by your mom with Vaporub or a hot mustard plaster. She was giving you love and we know from Harry Harlow's work that showed that tactile and contact comfort from their primary caregiver worked. When your mother rubbed Vaporub on your chest it was really really the loving tactile comfort that was helping. So people are feeling cared for when they are being given an anti-depressant because it was the conditioned association of feeling loved being associated with being given a pill and thinking that the pill cured them when it was really the maternal TLC.
Religions always understood the power of placebo. Prayer cloths, incense, anointing and acupunture are healing tokens. We seem to have a natural slot for inserting a healing token, which works better than just words..
Fantastic essay as always, thank you! But the picture is from the wrong century : ) that’s Henry ward Beecher, the famous 19th century preacher and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s brother. Dr Beecher apparently isn’t even distantly related to the famous Beecher family, he seems to have changed his name when moving to Boston to give people the false impression he was… it does seem to have helped him gain prominence - a placebo effect from a name!
Thank you for the correction! I will try and find the correct picture and swap it in for those who read in the future.
Roger, I think you are overlooking something that could explain the placebo's power - the need to be taken care of, and the association between taking a pill and memories of childhood that people carry. They probably remember, at least subconsciously, their mother lovingly giving their child an aspirin or cough syrup when they were sick, probably in bed, with a cough, cold or sore throat. The mother would say "this will make you feel better", thereby unknowingly teaching the child, incorrectly, that being given a pill makes them feel better, when it was the mother's love coupled with bed rest, sleep and some home-made remedies like chicken soup, 7 up, or your chest being rubbed by your mom with Vaporub or a hot mustard plaster. She was giving you love and we know from Harry Harlow's work that showed that tactile and contact comfort from their primary caregiver worked. When your mother rubbed Vaporub on your chest it was really really the loving tactile comfort that was helping. So people are feeling cared for when they are being given an anti-depressant because it was the conditioned association of feeling loved being associated with being given a pill and thinking that the pill cured them when it was really the maternal TLC.
Religions always understood the power of placebo. Prayer cloths, incense, anointing and acupunture are healing tokens. We seem to have a natural slot for inserting a healing token, which works better than just words..