Some researchers are calling for a new designation, since "placebo" implies something inert or lifeless. One suggestion is the "meaning" effect in the apparent attempt to capture the elements of trust, belief and expectancy involved in such healings. And then there is the "nocebo" effect, in which bad news by a physician, for instance, sends a patient into a terminal spiral. One example that Deepak Chopra mentions, and was apparently well-documented, was the case of a man with huge tumors throughout his body, masses that shrunk and dissapeared, and grew back, depending upon what the media was reporting about the efficacy of a certain drug.

What I'd like to suggest is that the placebo effect puts us, momentarily, more at ease, or in touch, with the vastness of our own souls. The notion here is that at a certain level our souls are continually in the presence of God, expecting His love just as a child would expect such from a loving mother, but with even greater confidence, and that this simple expectancy of healing, brings the power of this Divine communion into the mind as a deep trust, and resonates within the intelligence of the body's cells the natural grace that upholds our physical being.

The Sedona Method seems to tap into something like this when it poses a question like

"Could you let go of ____________?" (whatever the troubling emotion happens to be)

This question isn't a demand, or even a request, but merely poses a question about the merest possibility that one could let go of a feeling, just for now, and not for all time. The word "could" evokes a mind-state similar to wonder, and this resonates with the soul's natural grace, its created tendency to consent to the greater good, informing the conscious mind of a greater potential than we are normally tuned into. The emotion isn't banished, but given this increased space of wonder, and therefore naturally eases back into a larger presence.

And so perhaps the placebo effect opens us, in some manner, to the intuition of being, where the possibility of healing resonates with the probability of a goodness that is itself healing due to the soul's receptivity to God at that hidden level.

There are other things to consider here, such as hypnosis, and the power of ritual generating a more open state of mind conducive to this deeper resonance within the soul. But in any case, it seems, to me, to be less about creating a new belief than in trusting and receiving a power that only appears external to oneself, or signified in the ritual, i.e, sugar pill given by the priest/doctor. IOW, a power greater than ourselves, but including us in an intimate way we are seldom aware of, is accessed simply by trusting in an unconditional way.

Very interesting post to start off a topic, w.c. In the courses I took years ago on substance use and abuse, we were taught that a drug had to be efficacious in more than 35% of the population to be actually doing something, for a placebo would have a significant effect in that many people. I found that amazing!

Our immune systems are superbly equipped to deal with a very wide range of ailments, provided it functions at optimum levels. It seems that one of the benefits of a placebo is to enable higher immune system function, and that it is the "faith" of the person in the cure that is the critical issue. This is not to deny the helpfulness of drugs and other interventions, of course; there are times when we do need the extra help.

- would this topic be better suited for the health and wellness forum?

What I'd like to suggest is that the placebo effect puts us, momentarily, more at ease, or in touch, with the vastness of our own souls.

Yes, that�s the question. How to interpret the placebo effect: vastness of soul, enabling higher immune system function, both, either, or in combination with still other factors?

Given the general "spookiness" of the placebo effect it�s probably not wise to rule out causes that can�t be easily pinned down by science. But whatever is going on, I think it�s absolutely extraordinary that so much of our healing power is effected by our thoughts and beliefs. That�s a blatant clue about something whether it�s the nature of mind, the nature of reality, or whatever.

Phil:

I put it here because of how faith and the soul's intelligence seem central to the phenomenon, and hoping others might be more prone to contribute than if put on that other forum. But do what you think is best.

Phil and Brad:

Interestingly, the energy center above the heart chakra, in the upper region of the breast-bone, is called by some healers the "high heart" center, or the "soul-seat," which has as its corresponding endocrine gland the thymus (primary to immune system function). When deep feelings of devotion are felt in my body, it is often in this area. And so we might see this as describing the link between "faith" in healing in the placebo effect, and natural grace appearing in the body during adoration.

Also, the immune system's intelligence has much to do with differentiating "self" from "other," as in the healthy host from pathogens. How interesting that our sense of adoration brings home the majesty of the Other, and our most tender sense of belonging and being a self deeply loved in that context. And so the "I-Thou" relatioship, where cells are kept healthy as "self" in the immune environment, is perhaps somewhat lost in a state of disease, becoming an other "Other," and in need of reconciliation within the host.

Not to imply there is anything inherently evil in a person due to disease itself, but original sin would expect such suffering to be our common lot.

So when we trust a physician or healer who tells us we are going to recover or heal, and we get results beyond the medicine or herb's known efficacy, it would seem that we've opened ourselves in trust to a greater level of the soul's presence than what we have been conscious of before. In effect, we don't have to be conscious of this greater presence in which we "live and move and have our being," as the healer symbolizes that awareness for us so that we can simply trust like a child.

What happens, it seems, is that we dis-identify with the disease or pain or imbalance by relaxing into the presence or goodness of our souls which is always the case, yet has been affirmed by the healer or the additional symbolic power of the drug or herb, and this allows the mind to rest from its hypervigilance and the body to mobilize its energy more fully.