Understanding the “Placebo Effect”
We’ve previously discussed the links between mental and physical health, and the deep connection between the way you think and the way you feel.
Nowhere has this been more validated in traditional medicine than the placebo effect. In order to test all kinds of drugs and procedures, researchers split their human subjects into two groups: those who are given the treatment, and those who receive a placebo instead.
In the case of drug trials, the placebo is usually a sugar pill. The groups are then monitored for symptoms, so that the results can be compared.
But the method of research is not the point. The amazing (and often overlooked) part of this is that taking the sugar pill consistently causes a range of very real health benefits.
Placebos have been shown in clinical trials to relieve pain, cure cancer, reverse depression, mimic the effects of alcohol, and outperform a huge range of drugs in treating just about every known medical condition – all without any nasty side effects.
Can doctors explain this? Currently, the best theory says that your brain can initiate the production and release of the neurotransmitters involved in the healing procedure – without you ever taking the drug.
If that’s true, then perhaps it’s time to realise the true power of mental health in making healthy lifestyle changes.
Call us today on 1300 889 073 to learn about our range of options to target healthy minds and attitudes at your workplace.
