Understanding the Nocebo Effect

Most people have heard of placebo effects, but many people have never heard of a nocebo, which is a very real phenomenon. Let's discuss what a nocebo is.

What is a Nocebo?

Where a placebo is kind of a promise that something is going to work (like patients being given a sugar pill and told that it's going to give them some benefits), a nocebo is the opposite. You are told that you're given something, a different lifestyle, a different diet, some change, but you're told that it's going to have negative consequences.

Definition: A nocebo is a harmful set of consequences or worsening symptoms that occur when a person is told they may experience harmful or negative outcomes. For example, when you read the disclaimer on a drug and it says, you may experience these side effects. If you are aware of these side effects you are more likely to experience them because you are paying more attention to them as well as the effect of the nocebo.

We can create our own Nocebos from poor mindsets. If people think they may experience side effects they are far more liekly to experience them. Thinking you might get sick can create the physiological symptoms. By creating a nocebo for yourself, you are manifesting the nocebo occurring.

When we are Worried or Scared

A strong pattern I've seen is when we are worried or scared we create out most debilitating nocebos. We start to pay attention to the symptoms or outcomes we worry about, notice those bad outcomes sooner and in disproportionally greater magnitude.

For example, a great employee was laid off, and created a nocebo that she will lose her career. The employment gap becomes longer, the gap will become a negative thing in the eyes of employers, people won't hire her, she's studied for many years and now her career will be derailed and she will lose her feelings of self worth. What actually ended up happening, is because she was very competent, she ended up getting a job a month later alongside multiple offers, but she created this nocebo for herself which spiralled out of control. This is a common scenario so we need to catch when we do this to ourselves or witness it from others to prevent unnecessary stress and harm.

In the next video, I will show you a study about how the nocebo effect had a profound impact on many employees during a challenging economic time.