11 Jun Placebo

How is it possible that complaints decrease when you take a fake pill? The effect of a placebo is so significant that the professor of health science Andrea Evers, who passed away this week, dedicated her life’s work to studying this phenomenon.

It’s not just about a pill, of course. Even when the doctor says, ‘This is good for you, it works for most people,’ there is a greater chance that the medication he prescribes will be effective than if he only writes a prescription.

Believing that it works
What works is not only the material component, it is also the belief that it will have an effect. Personally, I prefer the word ‘trust’ instead of ‘belief’: you have trust that it will turn out well, you have trust that it will succeed or that it is possible. Trust is like the oil that makes everything slide more easily; it is like the track on which a heavy train can run.​

The opposite is also true, as shown in the professor’s research. When someone tells you, ‘the chance of it working is not that great,’ it undermines confidence and there is a great chance that it indeed has little or no effect.

Strengthening the self-image
By strengthening the self-image, the instructions are based on this principle: say, feel, let your body and mind be filled with confidence and project this onto what you want to do in the future or what comes your way.

*This post has been automatically translated from Dutch