Dat Placebo Power

[Royd The Noyd]

I've always wondered how people believe something is working for them even in the face of substantial evidence showing it's useless. My initial thought is that it was simply selective hearing, or just stupidity. Turns out it may be more complicated...

Rethinking the Placebo Effect: How Our Minds Actually Affect Our Bodies | Brain Pickings

 

[Tagger]

Pretty interesting stuff right there.

 

[AntM1564]

I'll try to make a long story short, but it relates pretty well to this.

My grandmother is addicted to pain killers, it runs in my family, my mother is too. When I had a defibrillator put in just over two years ago, I had some on hand post surgery. I also had prescribed aspirin. My grandmother told me she had some kind of sharp pain and said the painkiller would help her. I knew she just wanted it to feed her addiction. I said alright, I can bring one over for you. I brought one of the aspirins I had to her house instead. She said that doesn't look like a painkiller, I said it was a different brand, but it was. She took it and was knocked out sleeping. Prior to that, she was saying how "good" she felt. A few hours later I called her and she said she felt great. She did not know I gave her the aspirin. She was suspicious, but took my word.