What Happens When You KNOW You're Taking a Placebo?
One of the rare studies into the action of the placebo effect in 'non-blind' clinical trials was undertaken by Lee C. Park and Uno Covi at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1964. 'Non-blind' means that patients were informed that the pills they were issued were totally inert, that they were placebos, and in this case they were also assured that despite this the pills would be of benefit to them. The study concluded:
'The primary finding is that patients can be willing to take placebo and can improve despite disclosure of the inert content of the pills; belief in pill as drug was not a requirement for improvement.'
(Some first-hand reports on our Testimonials page.)
Ref. L. C. Park, U. Covi, Nonblind Placebo Trial - An Exploration of Neurotic Patients' Responses to Placebo When Its Inert Content Is Disclosed, Archives of General Psychiatry, April 1965, Vol. 12, pp. 336-345
I joked with my daughter in
I joked with my daughter in law about the use of placebos in the presence of my youngest grandson. To be fair I should add that we did also consider that they could be beneficial in some circumstances. About an hour later my grandson came to me, told me that he had a headache and could he have 'one of those pills'. I laughed and gave it to him saying that these were the ones we were talking about, that they were sugar pills but might just work. About 10 minutes later I was surprised when he reported in full sincerity that...'Those pills work twice as fast as the other ones!' When I asked his mother what 'those pills' would be, she replied...'probably child panadol or aspirin'.
Well atleast his kidneys were saved a dose. She was happy to receive and I was happy to give the placebo pills to take home.