Can I use a placebo for anxiety?

So let's assume you have one of the most important exams of your academic period and you are fighting anxiety. Or you have a job interview in one of the leading companies and you really need the job but your anxiety is getting you. Feeling nervous or worried is something we all have been throughout our lives. How do you help yourself feel better? You might ask “Can I use placebo for anxiety?”

For many people, the placebo effect is a mysterious phenomenon. Yet there is a large body of literature on placebo effects that prove these inert treatments can not just provide medical benefits but also have a positive impact on cognitive aspects of the human mind. It can give learning and creativity a boost. A placebo treatment has numerous benefits, but the question remains, can a placebo be used for anxiety? Does it help people with chronic anxiety feel better? Let's explore it.

Placebo And Anxiety

Test anxiety is one of the most common forms of anxiety in students which can involve physical symptoms like high heart rate, negative thoughts, impaired performance, etc. most of the sufferers end up taking medications or have psychotherapy.

Michael Schaefer from Medical School Berlin led a study to explore if a placebo could help people deal with anxiety. The team experimented on 58 volunteers who were all university students and approaching their finals. Half of the students were given no treatments while the other half was given placebo pills. Most importantly, those given the pills were informed that the pills were inactive. Before starting the course of treatments which stretched for two weeks, each student completed a form which measured their level of test anxiety, physical and mental well being and morale.

The control group showed no difference but the group which received the placebo showed improved self-management abilities. Although the study was small and results were preliminary, the verdict was that placebo pills could help people deal with anxiety better and perhaps help them enhance their coping mechanisms.

Not Just A Pill

Placebos are not just medicinal interventions in the form of treatment. It could also mean a healthy living style, ritual, words, or perhaps actions that cause the placebo effect in the body. Calming activities, meditation, or yoga can bring about the placebo effect too and make you feel relaxed or comfortable. Such placebos expand your horizons and make you explore the possibilities around you leading you to a general sense of wellbeing.

Placebos help you perceive your condition as treatable and encourage their brain to initiate neurotransmission processes to relieve anxiety symptoms. This reflects that the true power of the placebo effect is pre-programmed in the human brain and has the advantage of instilling hope, faith, and feelings of wellbeing at times of psychological adversity. The external stimulus could adopt any shape, texture, or symbolism. The brain absorbs that stimulus, mixes, and churns it up with a dose of hope and positivity to generate chemical triggers in the body, making one feel better.

It’s the power of the human mind that conquers anxiety and we can practice and learn to achieve this state.