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Stress and Anxiety? Understanding placebos can help you improve your health!

09/18/2024|Simply Natural Medicine|

“What you believe, you shall receive!”

The placebo effect has bewildered the medical field for a long time, because when it happens, it seems like a magical experience is taking place. In fact, it seems like belief is the cause of recovery when the placebo effect appears.

Historical accounts of the placebo effect are fascinating, and the principal story told involves Henry Beecher, a prominent medical doctor who treated soldiers during WWII. At one point, the military field hospital – always a chaotic environment — experienced a morphine shortage, and in desperation, he injected a patient with saline, telling them that they were receiving morphine. The patient then peacefully sailed through battlefield surgery with no reports of pain or discomfort, presumably due to believing he had actually received morphine. And the placebo effect was born.

In modern day medical research, placebos are used to determine whether a treatment is effective or not. Medical studies often begin by dividing the participants into two groups with the same medical condition. One group receives doses of the treatment that is being studied, and the other group receives a placebo – often a sugar pill — which is designed to have no therapeutic effect.

After participants from each group provide evidence of having followed the researcher’s instructions and finished all the required doses, researchers reevaluate all participants to see if anything has changed. Of course, what they expect (or hope) to find is that the health of the persons taking the actual substance has improved, while the health of the persons taking the placebo has stayed the same (or even declined.)

But sometimes the placebo surprises everyone and improves a patient’s health: the placebo effect in action.

It’s all about the power of the mind, and the fact that our thoughts play a major role in healing and creating a stable environment for the physical body, mind, and emotions to engage in self-healing.

In his book, Mind to Matter, Dawson Church explains that thoughts can influence your health because the way you think can have a direct effect on your brain cells.

Church further relates that the cells in the brain appear to be constantly changing as if set on “boil.” And having a natural tendency to organize, create and expand, they form new connections based on the character and direction of our thoughts. In fact, the most used areas/pathways in the brain show the most expansion.

When we are obsessed with negative – or positive – thoughts, the part of the brain relating to those thoughts tends to grow and develop greater brain mass with stronger connections. So, it is important to monitor the content of your thinking, because your thoughts can change the way the brain works! 

Improve your health with the Placebo effect!

The placebo effect reminds me of an M. Night Shyamalan movie, Lady in the water, in which the character, “Reggie” (Freddy Rodriguez,) only exercises one side of his body, so that the side receiving a constant focus of his energy became much larger and more developed than his limbs on the other side. (This just makes me think of one big arm.)

Similarly, when the brain expands, it develops its strongest connections— and creates more brain mass – in areas that resonate with the central focus of our thinking, while other areas of the brain become less energized.

I’m making this point because I am concerned that many people allow negative emotions like fear, depression and anxiety to overwhelm their thinking, and this causes them to develop a brain structure geared toward perpetuating more thoughts of fear, depression, and anxiety (making a bigger arm) often resulting in sensations of low energy, depression, and hopelessness.

The same rule applies if you allow negative information to encompass your thoughts, focusing on things like … news characterized by suffering and violence, overly depressing thoughts relating to a breakup (the Patsy Cline Syndrome) or even gloomy thoughts about an incurable disease. Remember, your brain will actively expand – and gain brain mass – in areas corresponding to the concerns you think about most often (things you obsess over,) so that gloomy thoughts create more gloomy thoughts.

On the other hand, focusing on good thoughts encourages the brain to build new connections in line with positive thinking. Healthy, happy thoughts create more healthy, happy thoughts.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that people who are able to think clearly and latch on to a valuable purpose … a reason to recover … often seem to regain their health quicker and more effectively than those who allow doom and gloom to possess them. Positive thinking is powerful and appears to work like a good luck charm: suddenly, you feel like the universe is on your side.

Having worked with a lot of extremely sick people and been sick myself, it is my opinion that it’s easier to get better when choosing not to base your whole identity on your diagnosis or deficient health state. This can be difficult because doctors often identify you (tag you) by your official diagnosis, no matter how dreary.

One patient I used to visit in the community was directed by his doctor to watch TV comedies (laughter therapy,) so he decided to watch every last episode of the classic TV show: The Munsters, taking me right along with him. And although The Munsters was not my first choice of comedy, I will say this guy had the right idea, focusing on laughter. (Building a bigger arm.)

Having observed many sick people in my lifetime, it is my opinion that when you constantly focus all your thoughts on the fact that you have a disease … all the characteristics of that disease … how to deal with that disease … you can become stuck in a disheartening groove that absorbs and devours your personal power, diverting precious energy away from mental activities that could be expanding your cellular activity in the direction of healing. In this case, it becomes more important than ever to change your thinking and focus on uplifting subjects … fill your mind with healing thoughts … toss the bad thoughts out for recycling.

In the case of a drug trial, where some people take a certain medication and others take a placebo, merely the thought that they may be taking the promising medication can, at times, improve health conditions due to placebo. This occurs as thoughts about with the promise of healing form new connections in the brain (a bigger arm,) and these newly reinforced pathways are supportive of a healing vibe.

Dawson Church – awesome health writer — makes the point that maintaining emotional stability can instigate preventative health effects. And it does seem that strong, unbidden emotional thoughts (even scattered thoughts) can be destabilizing to the mind and mental processes. In my own experience, maintaining a peaceful outlook on life — prioritizing emotional control — appears to create a stabilizing effect on mental health, and this allows the brain the space it needs to engage in self-healing.

Peaceful thoughts expand into stronger peaceful thoughts (a bigger arm.)

One way to develop a peaceful, balanced mindset is by engaging in mindfulness meditation, which is easy and does not involve any special prerequisites: if you research it, you’ll find out it’s for everyone.

Below are some “Simply natural medicine approved” products. (Simply Natural Medicine’s work, promoting accessible natural health information, is assisted by being an Amazon Associate.)

L-Theanine Capsules: This is a gluten free Amino Acid supplement that can be used any time of day. Many report that it makes them feel mentally energized, as well as calm and relaxed.

Rhodiola Rosea: This supplement is considered an “adaptogen,” which means it helps you to adapt to stressful situations. It has been used historically as a treatment for anxiety, fatigue, and depression.

Word to the wise: Supplements are great for people who are generally healthy (just need a little help,) and we will only suggest supplements that we trust. But If you are very sick or pregnant, be smart and check with a doctor before trying any supplement. To your health!

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