Nocebo Effect
An additional list of 13 things adds on to the original 13 things that don’t make sense compiled by New Scientist, one of which covers the power of negative suggestion.
The Nocebo effect is the opposite of the Placebo effect (see the original list) and refers to cases where “putting someone in a negative frame of mind has an adverse effect on their health or well-being.”
Tell people a medical procedure will be extremely painful, for example, and they will experience more pain than if you had kept the bad news to yourself. Similarly, experiences of side effects within the placebo groups of drug trials have shown that a doctor’s warning about the possible side effects of a medicine makes it much more likely that the patient will report experiencing those effects.10 months ago
