People Share Their Best "Placebo Effect" Stories
It may be fake, but it doesn't mean it won't work.
Our mind is a funny thing. We can easily convince ourselves of something with so much conviction that it turns into a semblance of reality. The power of belief can work miracles, but unfortunately, also create a whole bunch of trouble. There are entire industries that revolve around our willingness to believe. Discovering the truth can be a bitter pill to swallow. Trust me, we've all been there.
Redditor u/codeabranchpredictor asks the question...'What is your placebo effect story?'
It Worked Like A Dream
My daughter was suffering from insomnia and asked if I had anything that might help. I told her about Melatonin - and went to my CAR to get her one (huh?). I came back in and gave her a Tic-Tac.
She yelled at me the next day, because she fell asleep immediately after taking it and couldn't wake up the next day - felt drowsy all day.
I laughed my a** off.
Next time maybe half a tic tac
An Extra-Strength Exaggeration
Not just one story, but every time I give someone pain medication (I'm a paramedic) I tell them that it is extremely strong and will work SUPER well, so to just be aware. Even though I usually give smaller doses of the medication.
I've found that the people I say this to prior to giving the medication seem to think it's works better.
I've had this happen to me as a patient and I like being given "permission to relax." I know that sounds weird but when you are legitimately worried that you are going to die (which is why you didn't Lyft it) you are hyper-vigilant. When I hear this I hear "I got you. You can relax now and I believe your pain" in which case the lower doses probably DO actually work better!
"This stuff is normally reserved for surgeries but you can have some"
"This is a skittle"
Doctor's Orders
I started getting headaches when I was 5 yrs. old. Family doctor told mom not to be silly, children don't get headaches. After a few years, he finally said he would give me something for them. He pulled a big jar out of the cupboard and poured a bunch of little red pills into an envelope and said take one anytime my head started to hurt. I was an advanced reader, especial mysteries. In the lobby, checking out, I asked my mom if they were sugar pills. They were. 40 years go by, I'm talking with my uncle. He says he sure wished he could find out what those little red pills were, that he got from the same doctor. They were the best medicine he had ever had for his arthritis. I never told him.
Touched By...You Know Who
I spent a full year and a half with odd neurological sensations (buzzing, tingling, numbness, stabbing pain all over my body) . One particular pain was a pain in my finger that felt like I had a splinter in my finger when brushed or touched lightly. Dr's/ neurologists were unsure of what was going on with me but they were certain it was nothing "serious"... they hinted that the pain in my finger could be something called allodynia. Not a fun time and very scary.
Well, I had an old childhood friend visit me and stay with me for a week. I caught him up on everything that had been going on with my health. We knew each other since elementary school. He was always the coolest guy in school. In the best bands. Best baseball player. Best skater. All the girls loved him. But he was also a super hypochondriac and anxiety got to him majorly in his 20's. Any who.
He knew me really really well. Best friends all through our teens... telling him about my finger he says "Dude. My skin hurts too when I'm super stressed out. Right here (he rubs the hair on his head) You're stressed. This is a stressful thing to go through... and your nerves are shot and hypersensitive. Mine comes and goes. You'll be fine." And he puts his hand on my shoulder. "Serious sully man. I promise. I know you. You'll be fine." And it was the thing that I'd been wanting for so long. Someone who knew me well, telling me I would be ok.
After a year and a half of telling every sort of dr, therapist, healers etc etc etc... I swear to god... within that hour... the pain went away. I had had that pain for a solid year. Touch my finger. Boom. Sharp shocking splinter feeling. We were at dinner.... I touched my finger. Nothing. Thought it was a fluke. Nothing the next day. Or the day after that. And nothing for over 2 years now.
The odds of my body magically healing during the hour after my friend talking to me in such a transformative way... I'd say are pretty low. I think it was the most important placebo I've ever gotten.
puts his hand on my shoulder
Nah, it's not a placebo... your friend is Jesus. It's the only explanation.
Courage In A Bottle
When I was about 7 years old I used to really be afraid of the dark. I wouldn't want to walk into my room without some sort of light on. One day I had a drink that had the work "bravery" on the bottle. 7 year old me thought that drinking this would help! As soon as I drank it i walked into my room without any lights on and as soon as I was starting to feel a bit scared I remembered the drink and realized everything was fine. That was actually the last time I was afraid of the dark.
level 1lvix_v
Toke A Moment
So I was in Amsterdam few months ago, just to visit the city btw, not because of weed. We went to a shop where they were selling cakes and hot chocolate and things like that. I bought a cup of coffee and 10 minutes after drinking the coffee I said to myself "wait, did you just drink weed coffee?", because the taste was a bit different/weird. And I literally started feeling high and I was paranoid. After 15 minutes I said to myself "nope, it wasn't weed coffee" a few times and then all the feelings just disappeared.
Wait, is weed coffee a thing?? How would they even do that? Weed creamer? I gotta know... for science, of course.
This Sounds Familiar...
Once thought I learned Mandarin in two days thanks to some smart pills. I believe it's called the placebee effect.pizza_witch
Did you try and make a cat and a spider communicate with each other?
You know what they say. The good of the scorpion is not the good for the frog.
Mind Over These Matters
I've had chronic health problems since childhood that doctors were long incapable of definitively diagnosing. One physician I had spent years experimenting on me with various medications, most of which did nothing or just made me sicker in even the tiniest dosages. SSRIs, vitamins, hormones, steroids, on and on. During one visit he was sitting as his desk reviewing my file and started in saying; "Y'know,the power of the human mind in amazing..."
He then proceeded to give a short explanation of the Placebo Effect and its amazing results, ending with the suggestion that perhaps I should give it a try, to which I responded; "That sounds great, doctor, but for the Placebo Effect to work, aren't I supposed to NOT know that I'm taking a placebo?" He fell silent for a bit, then moved on to other topics.
Your knowledge doesn't actually matter, if you are commit to something (the act of taking a medicine) is enough. Your brain will do the rest. The more invasive the procedure, the better the placebo will work.
Tic-Tacs Truly Are A Cure-All, Aren't They?
I had a severe panic disorder when I was like 6 and my therapist told me that Tic-Tacs would stop them. In reality, they made me not nauseous anymore which calmed me down. I guzzled that for 20 years and now I have permanent esophagus damage.
But I still bought into it for all that time...
How the heck did tic-tacs damage your esophagus?
Apparently peppermint oil irritates your skin (especially your mucus membranes) if left on for too long.
Ba-dum, You're Fine!
If my kid falls and I tell him he's fine, he's fine, and may even laugh. If I don't say anything, he'll get scared he's not fine and cry.
When my little brother was a toddler, we'd shout "Ba-dum!" after he fell down, even if it looked like it probably hurt. It always made him laugh, then he'd shout "Ba-dum!" right back at us and continue like the fall never happened. It prevented a whole lot of tears and screaming.
Sounds About Right....
As an novice audio engineer I just recently had an artist in our studio tell me that a section of the song wasn't bright enough. Just for shits and giggles I decided to open a plug-in that was bypassed and turn one of the dials up, then close my eyes and pretend to listen for that "sweet spot."
Dude goes "RIGHT THERE YEEEAAAAHHHHH THATS PERFECT."
Literally nothing I did affected anything about the track.
A Little Magic Goes A Long Way
I have ghost spray that I spray my kids rooms with if they get scared of the dark. It's just water with a little lavender oil. Helps them sleep. 👻
I'm a preschool teacher. I keep a bottle of "magic potion lotion" (aveno natural, decorated to hide the label) on my shelf for all those little boo-boos or for when my kiddos are a bit sad. I rub it between my hands, maybe blow on it a couple times or say something kind of funny/magical sounding before putting it on them. Works nearly every time. One boy from another class even brought his mom to me so she could get him some!
Figures...
When I was little I suffered from a long series of nightmares, typical kid stuff with witches and monsters and such. In response to this my mother brought a small Qilin figure, and told me it was a dream guardian that would protect me when I slept and keep away nightmares.
I still have it and have only had about 4 nightmares in the last 20+ years. Most of which I treated with annoyance more then fear.
This Job Makes Me Sick
I always break out in hives after job interviews. I also get a lot of anxiety, I feel nauseous and I can't sleep. Sometimes for weeks afterwards. I realized after a few days of this recently that if I just repeat in my head "you got the job already, they offered it to you, you did it!" I can literally watch my skin turn back to a normal color and feel the hives calm down.
Mine is explosive diarrhea, I'm not sure which is worse. Every damn interview I feel like I'm going to shit my pants. Which would admittedly be a pretty epic way to end a bad interview.