The Placebo Effect

[Dark_Phoenix]

this is really strange......



i'm at a loss for words.....



well maybe not..[], i think that the mind is the only medication / healing device that will work if you believe it to. and not the other way around.[]

[Nay]

Very cool indeed!  Power of thought, is a wonderful thing!

I have heard of people being hypnotised to feel no pain, then had major surgery without the aid of drugs.

By the way, you are looking very colorful today Mustard. []

Nay

[Naldo]

The power that exists and that can be harnessed is endless...

There is Something about the mind, consciousness, awareness etc. that cannot be explained logically... yet we here stories, we read the books and in every aspect of the example, we find out that something is happening that is contrary to what we have been thought.

I have always believed that the mind is powerful, why? I could not and still cannot explain it; and everytime I pick up a book about the topic, it just enhances and reinforces my cognition.

I have heard about the Placedo Effect from several sources but the only 2 that come to mind, are from Deepak Chopra -  "The Higher Self" and from Michael Talbot - "The Holographic Universe". These are great resources for expanding consciousness.

Well, Like you all, It is amazing, isnt it?

[

[Nick]

With respect to the power of the mind and The Placebo Effect, I agree that remarkable things have and can happen in the area of healing. The mind is so very powerful that people have gotten better from many different maladies.

Related to this, are some "faith healers" and their "subjects". Some people at times have actually been healed because of a deep held belief system in their mind. Very interesting indeed.


Very best,

[James S]

Nick's dead right about the power of the mind.

When we remove the shackles of analytical thinking that we tend to inflict upon ourselves, we can start to realise that we have within us, within our minds, all the creative power we need to shape our own realities. Healing ourselves is just one part of this potential that's within us.

James.

[cainam_nazier]

In all actuallity many drugs are tested against placebos as a way of testing actual affectiveness.  Basically they take a group of people and tell them all about what the drug is sappose to help them with and then only half of the people actaully get the drug being tested while the other half gets a placebo.  The most common use of this kind of testing is with headach and allergy medicines.

[The AlphaOmega]

Consider Robert Monroe's quote, "The greatest illusion is that mankind has limitations".  Basically never underestimate the power of the human mind!

[SpectralDragon]

on a side note, I have a whole book on the placebo effect which I still have to read. It's called: The Placebo Response By Howard Brody, MD

I have seen some skeptics claim that the placebo effect can account for almost all mystic practices.... while I do agree that this effect is something to watch out for I have to comment that some things just cannot be explained by this effect alone.

[Fat_Turkey]

Amazing. The power of the human mind is limitless and knows no bounds...so long as it believes [|)]

Cool story. Just goes to show that science doesn't know EVERYTHING there is to know in the universe...

~FT

[mustard]

I was watching the discovery channel yesterday and I saw a program about treating/healing and how doctors tried an experiment with patients by lying to them, well let me explain it.
They sperated 12 people in three groups, they were [B)]ill in their leg joints so the doctors deceided to give them an operation or so they said, anyways they gave the real operation to the first group and they gave a minor operation to the second and they literally put everyone in the third group under anesthesia and woke them up without doing any operation[:O](they fixed the leg so it would look like they operated).
A week or so later, the doctors checked on every patient from the experiment and all of them were healing successfully including the ones who taught they had a real surgery, this placebo effect seems to have actually worked for the patients, they assumed the operation was successful and they really healed with no outside force involved.

Any taughts on this?

[filipcza]

Consider what scientists knew 500 years ago. I believe they thought they knew just about everything.

How far has science come since then? How many barriers we have broken that science said was impossible? I believe that now scientists (or the really wise ones) are only starting to realize just how little they know.  The exploration of the outside world is ultimately seeking God from within.

That's what happened to Hitlers scientist when Hitler gave them an assignment: "Get me proof that there is no God!", said Hitler to the scientists.

They failed the assignment because they found God.

I don't know if this story is true, but it was told to me by our history teacher many years ago. If it's true then you can be sure they tried their best..

[Michael_E]

on a side note, I have a whole book on the placebo effect which I still have to read. It's called: The Placebo Response By Howard Brody, MD

I have seen some skeptics claim that the placebo effect can account for almost all mystic practices.... while I do agree that this effect is something to watch out for I have to comment that some things just cannot be explained by this effect alone.

I agree somethings cant be explained away by the placebo effect, for example the mole removel technique in ppsd. what other examples of things were you thinking of?