In a study by Swiss researchers, placebos helped both those who were “fooled” and those who knew about using placebos.
According to a new study, placebos are effective against feelings of guilt – even if people treated know that their medication does not contain any active ingredients. This result is a first and promising step towards symptom-specific and ethically justifiable treatments for mental health problems, as a research team from the University of Basel and the University Hospital of Zurich concluded from a study published in the journal “Scientific Reports”.
With this study, scientists were able to show for the first time that openly administered placebos also have a benefit on feelings as strong as guilt. According to the researchers, this discovery opens up new treatment options. “Open-label allocation of placebos is a promising approach because it preserves patients’ autonomy because they are fully informed about the intervention,” explained study author Dilan Sezer in a statement from the University of Basel.
Guilt as a symptom of depression
However, the clinical applicability of these results has yet to be proven. According to the study, further research should show whether placebo treatment can also reduce so-called maladaptive guilt feelings. Maladaptive guilt occurs when these feelings are irrational and persist over a long period of time. These emotions can have health consequences and are common symptoms of depression.
To evoke feelings of guilt in the study, test subjects had to write down an experience in which they broke important rules of conduct, treated unfairly, hurt, or even harmed a person they knew. After that, they were divided into three groups. Some were given a placebo without knowing it was a dummy drug. Others were given the same placebo but knew it was a placebo. A control group received no treatment. The result: feelings of guilt were significantly reduced in both placebo groups compared to those without medication.
(APA)