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Nocebo — The Impact of Health Anxiety, Fear and Doubt
A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Waistline
Nocebo…no, not placebo, an inactive pill you take with positive effect. Nocebo is similar though! It’s an inactive substance that is perceived to cause harm, or a psychological event connected to a therapeutic context. The nocebo effect can happen when we have negative expectations regarding the outcome of a treatment or prognosis. Like placebo, it’s a tangible outcome based on our beliefs or what’s in our heads. Essentially, if you think there will be a bad outcome or something won’t work, that might just be how it plays out.
Studies done on this mechanism have shown that nocebo is a psychobiological event, which occurs because of expectancy and classical conditioning in the brain. If you’ve ever taken a psychology class, you’ll be familiar with Pavlov’s dogs. Pavlov discovered that the dogs learned the ringing of a bell meant food would soon come, and they would salivate. Later in the study, the sound of the bell sparked the dogs to drool even when food didn’t come…their expectations created the physiological response.
Why are we talking about this? I believe most of us underestimate the power of our expectations and thinking, especially when it comes to our chemistry, our bodies and health outcomes. Pavlov’s dogs are an example of the power of our mind…
