We all know about the link between our brain and body, and about how our mood can affect how we feel. However the true extent to which this is the case has only recently been brought to light, as health psychologists look at the powerful affect our mind has on our perception and recovery from illness.

Most people have heard of the concept of a placebo – that by simply thinking something is working, often it will. This has been demonstrated in a large range of studies where patients are given sugar pills rather than real medication and find that it still helps them improve. This isn’t just the case in illness, but also in other areas of our life; such as in tests of recall or even in sports (remember Bugs Bunny’s special concoction in Space Jam? No? Then maybe it’s time I started watching adult television... ). You had the magic inside you all along...

The true extent to which this works however may surprise you and it’s not simply the case that placebos help you improve; even the colour of the placebo can have an unconscious effect on a patient. Apparently studies have shown that patients taking blue pills will find themselves feeling relaxed and calmed making it the more effective colour for drugs designed to help with anxiety – as blue is connected to tranquillity and serenity; while patients taking red pills find them to be more effective as pain killers – as we associate red with potency. Pharmaceutical companies should take note and rather than colouring all their pills and tablets white perhaps they should consider matching the hue to the purpose of the drug. A similar tactic is seen in bodybuilding supplements where the names often end in ‘bol’ and begin with ‘an’. This again fools punters into believing the brand is similar to steroids in terms of its effectiveness – meaning they are both more likely to buy them from a marketing point of view and more likely to interpret them as working unconsciously. Now colour those red too and you’ve got yourself a drug...

The other people for whom this is relevant is parents. Is your child creating a fuss because they have a bad stomach? Then maybe try giving them some sugar with a pinch of food colouring (red) and tell them it’s a guaranteed cure (just don’t try this method if they have something really wrong with them or you’ll end up losing their trust and probably with a nasty stain to wash out of the carpet).

The good news is that you’re not just ‘tricking’ your kids here, and that placebos actually do do something. This effect works in several ways. The first, is that in terms of pain, it can distract from the ache. If you focus too much on a pain in your body then the chances are it will feel worse, whereas if you ignore it and pass it off as not being that serious it will feel better. This is why children often only cry when they see blood, and why some of us seem to have such higher pain thresholds – because as a child we were taught to pick ourselves up and carry on. Believing the problem has been dealt with by a magic tablet allows us to forget our injury or illness and continue with other things. Even more effective is to replace thoughts of pain with happy memories, as these can release feel good hormones that counteract the effects of the hurt area. So try remembering a happy time with a loved one when you next feel unwell and you should find that it lessens your perception of the pain. And pain is after all a mental phenomenon.

Similarly in sports and in the gym it raises confidence which increases your commitment to a move, allowing you to put 100% effort in without fear of failure. Even though you don’t realise it, normally when you work out or run or jump you’re holding back just slightly in preparation for falling over or dropping the weight. A placebo works in much the same way as complements or positive self talk, improving your self image and leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy as you begin to act the part. If you believe you’re good at something you’ll act as though you are, and just that alone improves performance. The good news is that while you might shrug off a compliment as someone being polite, having something you believe will make you better is something you can’t really question (unless you suspect it is indeed a placebo).

But it goes deeper than all this. A positive mood for example has been shown to improve our immune system, and being surrounded by family and loved ones has often shown to improve people’s chances of recovery from terminal illness, as has having ‘something to live for’. Obviously sometimes there is no chance of recovery no matter how many people are around, but being with someone you live will definitely improve your prognosis. We’ve all heard of people ‘dying of loneliness’. It’s often when people retire and lose their focus in life that they really start to look their age.

But then there’s more still, and for whatever ever reason optimistic people have been shown to be luckier. Not just in tasks that might be affected by their state of mind, but also in trials involving flipping coins and picking cards. How can this be possible? No one’s sure, but one things for certain – if you believe it, it might just happen.

Mack LeMouse

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