What is the placebo effect and how the Placebo Effect can benefit us?

The word placebo comes from ” I shall please” and the concept of the placebo effect was used by Henry K. Beecher in 1955.

A placebo is a pill “a medicine”, which actually has no chemical that can benefit us. It is also a therapy. A placebo is an inert substance used as a control in pharmacological studies to compare the effectiveness of a medicine or pharmaceutical product in clinical trials.

The placebo effect, also called the placebo response, is the positive effect that produces such pill or treatment that chemically speaking, it should not produce, as it actually doesn’t have a pharmacological component related to the product or process under study.

Some people see the concept of the placebo effect as something bad, the result of our naivete or believing in something that is not true, but the truth is that if we look more closely it is a very interesting concept, the placebo effect, or placebo response, shows us how powerful our mind is.

There have been studies where the positive results produced by the placebo effect were better than the ones from the pharmaceutical product under study.

It is so fascinating that there are studies about “placebo surgery”. Studies where people are led to believe they will go under surgery to alleviate their problem. Doctors follow a process very similar to the actual surgery, but there is no surgery. They just pretend. Many patients have positive results as if such surgery has been made in reality.

And please notice here … is has nothing to do with the patient not being smart, or being gullible or  higher or lower IQ.

Hypnosis and the placebo effect.

Hypnosis is different from the placebo effect, but certainly it uses the beneficial concept behind the placebo effect … the rapport with the client or patient, believing, and mental attitude. The power of hypnosis is that it acts in a way more directly into our subconscious, changing limiting beliefs that may be causing our problems.

Is using the concept or the power behind the placebo effect wrong?

Not in my opinion, quite the contrary. It teaches us that we can change or improve many things in our life with the power of our mind, what we believe about ourselves and others.

It shows us how what we “talk”  to ourselves and what we accept and believe from others as the truth can affect us, mentally and physically.

The placebo is used in two ways.

Without telling the patient that he/she is part of the clinical trial group that will receive placebo. Neither the Doctor or the person administering the placebo knows who will receive it.

Telling the patient that he or she is part of the group that will receive the placebo as a control in a clinical or pharmacological study group.

What is interesting in the second case, people who know they are getting the placebo, yet still the placebo effect occurs and people feel positive changes.

The placebo effect is probably the most studied because it is a control for many pharmaceutical products and therapies or medical treatments and tells us something very important and powerful, what we really believe affects our body and mind.

Please notice, I said “what we really believe” because often we say we believe something but actually “internally” we do not believe in it. That is one of the reasons why sometimes being positive is not enough to get the results we want, or when we visualize projects to achieve a better life … and nothing happen… we say we believe, but in our subconscious mind there is something that says “no, it’s not true.”

Of course in the placebo effect there are other influential factors, such as the rapport we have with the health care professional. The environment, professional office, and presentation. Authority or social or professional recognition.

How can we use the placebo effect for our benefit?

Let’s start to realize that what we think creates our emotions. Our emotions are reflected in our actions … our actions create the results.

If for example I say I want to have a lot of money, but internally I believe money is bad, that people who have money are selfish, that money is evil … Guess what? … I’ll never have much money because my subconscious is protecting me and does not want me to be filled with evil, selfishness or be under diabolic influence. Therefore I must start by using the placebo effect and convince myself that there are many good, humble and generous millionaires and that money is not evil.

That money is a good. That money can help you live better and help others … so we need to be congruent, what we think, what we believe, what we say and the actions we take must be congruent.

In the same way with your health, if you are one of those people that spend a lot of time in Facebook complaining about your problems, your bad luck, your health problems … you will never get positive results. Or you say, I want to change, but the way you act is telling yourself  “poor me, bad luck, I have no control. I cannot change anything.”

Remember … your thoughts create your emotions. Your emotions run your actions. Your future … is the result of your actions.

Please notice … I’m not saying that the placebo effect, or placebo response is a cure-all. Not at all. Keep taking the medicines prescribed by your doctor. Check with your doctor, but at the same time you must analyze if you are being congruent in your life and if you are using the power of your mind.

Of course I’m not saying that you should give yourself a placebo … I’m saying, you can use the concept behind the placebo effect. Be aware of how you talk to yourself. What you talk to yourself. Do you believe what you just said or are you saying it to make someone else happy.

When I talk to clients about Hypnosis. I talk to them about the power of their minds. I repeat … “the power of his or her mind”, not mine. Sometimes I use a finger pulse oximeter and they can actually see how thinking about something that upset them or something that makes them happy, or relaxing … change the pulse numbers. Of course is not an exact measure, but it tells us … what you think affects your body.

So use the idea behind the placebo effect … what you truly believe can create powerful positive changes in your life. You are not getting the results you want? Check your “beliefs”.

How do feel when someone becomes rich, or happier or healthier?  … Do you say to yourself … those rich people make me sick … money does not buy happiness … yeah they have good genes, that’s why they are healthier … maybe they are lying … they are not happy, just pretending  …

Think about it … what you really, really believe … “your beliefs” create your future.

More info, please call 519-495-6405.

Olivier Hidalgo

www.nlphypnosiscentre.com