Belief by James E. Alcock

Author:James E. Alcock
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781633884045
Publisher: Prometheus Books

In retrospect, it is clear that traditional physicians in the late-eighteenth century had little to offer their patients therapeutically…whereas Mesmer could demonstrate cases “cured” by his treatment that had previously failed all conventional approaches. While one might be tempted to dismiss his therapeutic successes as only applicable to hysterical or imagined illness, some of his patients went on to lead quite functional lives when before they were deemed hopeless invalids, a point that even his detractors acknowledged.17

Mesmer's successes foreshadowed the modern-day notion of placebo treatments.

PLACEBOS

As noted in the discussion of interpersonal healing at the beginning of this chapter, the belief that one's illness is being effectively treated can in and of itself have salutary consequences for one's physical and emotional well-being.18 Even though Mesmer's treatment did not have any direct physical effect, his patients reported significant benefits in terms of overcoming their symptoms. Such improvement, whether following procedures such as Mesmer's or after the administration of a “sugar pill,” is generally referred to as a placebo effect, although it would be more appropriate to refer to it as a placebo response, since the placebo itself does not have any direct effect.19 While often used as a means of pleasing patients who repeatedly demand but do not actually need medication, placebos have also at times been administered to avoid demoralizing patients who suffer from disorders for which there is no effective treatment, although this raises prickly ethical issues.

Placebos have long been employed by physicians, and their use is relatively common at present. A survey of Canadian physicians and psychiatrists published in 2011 reported that one in four have employed placebos in their practice.20 A similar survey of internists and rheumatologists in the United States in 2007 found that more than half of the respondents had used placebo treatments in the previous year.21

The term placebo derives from Psalm 114:9 of the Latin Bible: Placebo Domino in regione vivorum (“I will please the Lord in the land of the living”). The term was first applied in a medical context in 1785, when it was described as a medicine given more to please than to benefit the patient,22 but the actual concept dates to ancient times. For example, in Charmides, Plato essentially refers to a placebo response when his character replies to a question about a cure for headache:

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