Mind Over Matter

"You never know what you can do until you do it.”
—Betty Ford

No part of healing would be complete without first addressing the phenomenon of the “Placebo Effect.” Many scientists and health care providers are mystified by the Placebo Effect. For others, such as the pharmaceutical industry, the placebo is a gigantic nuisance.

Historically, when scientists and researchers began conducting double-blind clinical trials for drugs, therapies, and procedures, they noticed that, across the board, 35 percent of the participants got better when they had been given an inert (inactive) drug or therapy. In studies, the participants that received no actual drug or therapy were referred to as a control group. The reason those 35 percent improved or got better was attributed to the Placebo Effect. In the purest sense, the Placebo Effect is “mind over matter.” It is self healing. A lot of the Placebo Effect’s effectiveness is rooted in our belief systems. If we have the belief and expectation that a particular drug, therapy, or procedure will heal us, then the Placebo Effect becomes a reality. The Placebo Effect is a tool of the mind that allows us to tap into or reinforce the self-regulating and self-healing abilities that already exist within us.

Some of the findings regarding the Placebo Effect are truly amazing. One of my all time favorite studies regarding the Placebo Effect is a 2002 study. At the Baylor College of Medicine, the researchers attempted to examine the effectiveness of arthroscopic knee surgeries on patients with osteoarthritic knees. To do this, patients were divided into three groups. One group had the arthroscopic debreement (removing and or trimming up damaged tissue) and lavage (“flushing out” of the knee joint). The second group only had the lavage. The third group (or control group) received a fake surgery. The control group was anesthetized and received three incisions to their knee and then stitched back up. What researchers found was that the control group responded as well as the group that had the actual surgery. Results were the same—even after a two year follow-up. The patients in the control group that responded favorably were certain that they had actual surgery.

One of the most exciting discoveries regarding the effect of mind over matter involves the field of pharmacology, specifically the use of anti-depressants. Researchers Irving Kirsch from the University of Cincinnati, Guy Saperstein from Westwood Lodged Hospital in Massachusetts, and Thomas Moore at George Washington University Medical Center, document that their research demonstrates that the success of anti-depressants on patients are only slightly higher than the control group given the placebo. Kirsch compiled 47 studies performed by pharmaceutical companies between 1987 and 1999 on anti-depressants, specifically Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft. Using the Hamilton Depression index scale, there was only a two point difference between the people who used anti-depressants and the people using the placebo.

Kirsch and Saperstein continued to do meta-analysis of 19 anti-depressant drug trials. Instead of expressing the placebo as an independent factor, they expressed the placebo as a percentage of the “real” effect of the test drugs. Their conclusion demonstrated that 75 percent of the drug’s effectiveness was a result of the Placebo Effect. Roger Greenberg, Clinical Psychology Division Head at the State of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, came to similar conclusions in his research on Prozac trials published in 1994. In his 1997 book, From Placebo to Panacea, Greenberg stated, “If people get physical sensation in the context that they may be on a real drug, they tend to be responsive.” According to Greenberg, the severity of side effects correlated with the drug’s efficacy. What this means is if a patient is experiencing any side effects, they tend to believe they are taking the actual drug. Therefore, they believe they will get better because of they are experiencing side effects—whether they are actually taking a placebo or the actual drug.

What all this information boils down to is the power of belief. When patients conclude that they are taking the actual drug because they are experiencing the drug’s side effects, they can believe or expect that they will get better because they believe they are taking the actual drug. Even more shocking is a report in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Judith Turner at the University of Washington. Turner found that the effectiveness of the placebo to be as high as 70 percent for positive patient outcomes. The implications of this report reach across all areas in medicine. How many procedures, therapies, surgeries, and drugs in the field of medicine result from mind over matter?

In conclusion, when we get right down to it, the only thing getting in the way of us reaching our optimal health is our own self-limiting beliefs. When we come to realize how truly powerful each and every one of us are and when we learn how to tap into self-healing abilities, our possibilities are endless!