The Placebo Effect
Maybe, the placebo effect is just one aspect of the mind/body medicine that
complementary therapies excel at and so well worth looking into in depth.
We must not judge by:
How can..........?
but by:
What is...............?
Judge by results and explain it when the explanation is unveiled or presents
itself, rather than by denying or ignoring the 'results'!
News items appear to be orientated towards sensationalism. I observe people
these days who have the opinion that things are either 'great' or 'useless'.
What happened to all the grey areas in between (those things that are not news
items)? Life is a continuum. Yes, we have to break it down into understandable
chunks, but (apart from they exist in quantisation anyway) let's not lose sight
of the reality that each quantum of reality has great significance in it's
own way.
How do we ensure that people are not sucked in to spending their money
fruitlessly, possibly at a time when they're most vulnerable?
Maybe, it's not the scientific trial that's most important, but evidence
based on previous clients and studies. If the 'signs' are not there that a
particular therapy works, then why continue with it? The signs must come from
reported experiences. So why try it at all? Cos it might work, in the same way
that we try orthodox medications. How many of those don't work (and possibly for the
same reasons)!
There are lots of interesting references. Try this one:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/100_heal.html