The brain is an incredible organ and one of its most fascinating abilities is to trick itself in countless ways. To understand why this is possible it is important to realize that the most of us view the brain as one entity that is always aware of what its different parts are up to. Similar to the way a basketball team has individual players but works in coordination with their teammates to make things happen. The brain doesn’t quite work like that, however, it’s more useful to think of the brain as a large city with so many moving parts that it would be impossible for each distinct part to know what the other parts were up to. Because the brain is so complex it makes sense that communication between different areas of the brain is not always seamless. This may explain why the brain is so suggestible and can convince itself of just about anything given the right circumstances. The placebo effect is one of those instances where the brain convinces itself that the medication, therapy, or even the surgery one is getting will be helpful. Then even if the treatment is a total sham, the treatment works and the patient gets better.

It is as if one area of the brain is yelling for pain relief and just wants you to do “something.” Another area of the brain receives information that your doing “something” about it and then the pain goes away. The “something” you did, however, may have just been to take a sugar pill with no active ingredients, but the part of the brain that had the original pain doesn’t really care. It is just happy that its responsibility to create action is complete. This is often why just picking up the phone to call your doctor often results in a dramatic drop in symptoms.

I tell you this only to point out the power of your thoughts to heal yourself. There are thousands of studies to show that the placebo effect works. The main point I’m trying to make is “DO SOMETHING” about your problems: talk to a therapist, phone a friend, take a walk and believe that it’s going to help you! Your brain can heal itself but it needs some indication that your taking control and taking action.

• FACT: People can know something is a placebo and still have their symptoms disappear shortly after taking the placebo.

• TAKEAWAY: The brain wants you to address the problem in some way and even if the brain knows it’s a sham it doesn’t care.