The Pros And Cons Of The Nocebo Effect

Register to read the introduction… The nocebo effect is the phenomenon in which inert substances actually bring about negative effects in a patient. For some, when a doctor informs a patient about a pill or procedure’s potential side effects, it can bring about real life symptoms. Moreover, if a doctor tells a patient that he only has five years to live, that patient is prone to have that negative thought in his mind. Pilcher quotes Guy Montgomery saying, “It can happen days before, or on the journey on the way in”(page 4). This negative mind set is making the patient become even more ill then he originally is. This suggests that because the power of belief, if the patient thinks he is truly going to die in five years, he will. Furthermore, doctors have much bigger power over their patients because their patients trust their medical expertise. Many people believe that if something can hurt you, it will. Helen Pilcher quotes Meador in her article saying, “Bad news promotes bad physiology” (page 5). …show more content…
The first solution is hypnosis, which decreases patients’ anxiety and stress. When a patient is told how much longer they have to live, the patient now has to live with heightened anxiety and stress, causing them to lose the motivation to become better. Another solution that can solve the stress of the nocebo effect is doctors choosing their words carefully. In Pilcher’s article, Montgomery states, “Its all about how you say it” (Page 3). Doctors should know how to tell a patient what may happen or what side effects may occur more calmly then abruptly. When a doctor is going to approach the patient who only has five more years to live, that patient would want his doctor to be sympathetic about his