When most people hear ‘placebo effect’, they think of fake medicine or sugar pills used in medical trials. But what if I told you that the placebo effect is one of the most revolutionary discoveries about human consciousness and healing that we have?

What Is the Placebo Effect?

The placebo effect is the measurable, observable, or felt improvement in health that isn’t attributable to actual treatment. It’s the effect that a belief, a thought, or the mind can have on the mind itself or the body. The placebo itself can be anything: a sugar pill, a food, a medicine, a thought, a prayer, a person, or even a place.

The statistics are remarkable. Research shows that in one study on migraine pain, a placebo was 50% as effective as the actual drug in reducing pain. In a 2008 study examining common antidepressants across 35 clinical trials involving over 5,000 patients, the placebo effect accounted for 81% of the drugs’ effectiveness. Perhaps most surprisingly, a 2013 study from the UK found that 97% of physicians acknowledged having used some form of placebo during their career.

This isn’t just happening in research labs, it’s happening in real medical practice every single day.

Why Science Struggles With Placebo

Despite overwhelming evidence, the placebo effect is still treated by many in the scientific community as something not quite serious, a ‘woo-woo’ thingy. The very terminology ‘placebo effect’ in some scientific environments is almost used dismissively, as if to say it’s not ‘real’ medicine.

But this dismissive attitude misses something crucial. The placebo effect is revolutionary because it tells us something that challenges traditional scientific assumptions about reality.

The Revolutionary Truth

Traditional science operates on the assumption that there’s an objective reality where a chemical works the same way for everyone, with mathematical proof and predictable results. But the placebo effect tells us something completely different.

It demonstrates that reality is so subjective that individual people can change the reality around them through belief. A person can transform a pill containing no active chemicals into actual medicine, just by believing it will work. This proves that chemicals aren’t objectively powerful independent of the mind and that the mind can create the same effect as the chemical just by believing.

Think about what this means: the mind can change and shape reality as long as it believes it can.

We’ve discovered quantum physics, which tells us reality is fluid and observer-dependent, yet we’re still acting in our daily lives as if we live in Newton‘s fixed, unchangeable world. We haven’t accepted in our collective consciousness that reality is far more malleable than we were taught.

A Scientist’s Journey

This brings me to Dr. David Hamilton‘s story. Dr. Hamilton has a PhD in organic chemistry and spent four years in the pharmaceutical industry developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer. During his work, he became fascinated by how patients would improve through believing they were receiving treatment. He was so amazed by the placebo effect’s power compared to the actual drugs that he left the pharmaceutical industry altogether to write books and educate people on harnessing their minds for healing.

A scientist who was literally developing life-saving drugs became so convinced of the mind’s power that he dedicated his life to teaching people how to use it.

The Science Behind the Magic

So how does the placebo effect actually work? Research has shown that it involves complex neurobiological reactions, including increases in neurotransmitters like endorphins and dopamine, and greater activity in certain brain regions. Studies have found that genetics may influence the degree of the placebo effect, with researchers examining how genes affect responses through dopamine, opioid, serotonin, and endocannabinoid systems.

Brain imaging studies demonstrate actual changes in the brain in response to successful placebo treatments for pain. When you believe something will help you, your brain releases real chemicals, such as natural painkillers, mood enhancers, and healing compounds, to make that belief become reality.

This isn’t imaginary. This is real, measurable biochemical change happening in your body because of what you believe.

The Role of Authority and Belief

When we talk about healing, several factors are at work: natural regression to the mean (the body’s natural healing), the placebo effect itself (our belief system and trust), and the actual treatment effect.

The factor of authority plays a huge role. When a doctor prescribes something, that authority itself impacts the healing process. For about 80% of the population, doctors are highly trusted authority figures. But authority works differently for different people: some trust research articles, logical reasoning, reviews from friends, or personal experience more.

Your belief system and what you trust matters enormously for your healing.

Hypnotherapy and the Mind’s Power

This is exactly where hypnotherapy comes in. In hypnotherapy, we work with the subconscious mind, where our deeper beliefs are stored. By changing our beliefs, our reality automatically changes. This isn’t “woo woo”, it’s the same principle proven in pharmaceutical research, just not widely discussed because it wouldn’t be economically profitable to acknowledge that 40-50% of people in placebo trials get similar results to expensive drugs.

In hypnotherapy, we work at the level of the subconscious mind—the same level where the placebo effect operates. The beautiful thing is that you’re not forced to think in a certain way. You discover your own answers through the hypnotic state, tapping into your subconscious wisdom.

Opening Up to Possibility

When we hear that 1% of cancer cases have inexplicable remission, this is still considered miraculous. But that 1% opens up a possibility: a potential of the mind that’s waiting for us to tap into it.

If we keep treating these cases as miraculous or special, we miss the opportunity to investigate further and make these “miracles” more frequent and accessible. The more we accept that this is natural, that the mind has this power, the more we open up to possibilities that already exist within us.

Your mind is more powerful than you’ve been taught to believe. The placebo effect proves this every single day in research labs and hospitals around the world. The question is: are you ready to harness that power?

Interested in exploring how your mind can support your healing and well-being? Learn more about hypnotherapy sessions and how they can help you tap into your mind’s unlimited potential. Book your free consultation today!