How to Use the Placebo Effect for Colds
The common cold is a viral infection and there is little you can do about it. This means that most of the medicines people use – like vitamin C, essential oils, elderberry syrup – only make you feel better, not literally fight off colds. But since feeling is kind of an issue, here’s how you can get the same benefits by running to the pharmacy at 9 p.m. for a particular overpriced or non-overpriced placebo.
But first, a few words about what the placebo effect is. A placebo is what is used in drug trials (often a sugar pill) that is administered as a medicine but has no active ingredient. It is designed to reveal the effects of a real medicine versus a small amount that people feel better when they think they are taking the medicine.
Part of the placebo effect is the power of positive thinking. You can use this power with some psychological tricks. The other part of the placebo effect is simply that it is a statistical compilation of all the things that affect your well-being, medical and otherwise. So here’s how to take advantage of it.
Expect improvement
For most of us, most of the time a cold will only last a few days, maybe a week or two at most. If you try to endure it until you feel like absolute trash on the day, and then drink the tea that you were told will cure you, you will wake up the next day feeling a little better, no matter what the tea did what -neither or not.
In the end, you will still get better. And by definition, the worst day will always be the best. So when you feel unwell, take comfort in the fact that you will get better very soon.
Find sensory experiences that remind you that you are being cared for.
Associations are powerful. If your mom made you chicken soup when you were sick at home as a child, you may still enjoy it today – not only because of the taste, but also because of the memories associated with it. You may feel unhappy when sniffing at work or on the way home, but as soon as you climb under the covers and put in front of the soup, you might think so, finally, I take care of myself.
Or maybe you’re used to a certain placebo that just makes you feel like you are doing something proactive and focused. No one ever dissolves an Airborne pill in water because they like the taste or the feeling of being warmly connected to Target where they bought it, but maybe it gives you a kind of chemical laboratory feeling when you create a drug and dispense it.
So use this association if you like. Just understand that it doesn’t have to be product specific. Instead, you can mix honey and hot tea, or choose a different childhood memory to recreate. Do you love making lists? Cover yourself under that blanket and make a list of events you can recreate that will make you feel cared for.
Stop doing what you hate
If there is a placebo that you swear by but hate, just stop using it. Feeling nauseous but hate ginger ale? Throw it out. Doing what you hate will not help you get better (unless it’s real treatment, prescribed for a specific reason, which you know I’m not talking about). In fact, you can feel worse if you are convinced that something is ineffective or harmful – this is called the nocebo effect.
If you have a ritual that you always do, even if you hate it, replace it with something you like. If someone hands you a natural cough syrup that you can’t stand, just throw it in the trash can as soon as it is gone.
Eat well and sleep well
Self-care is usually more common sense than specific items or spells. If you’re taking all of your placebos, you’re probably also making time to get some rest, get sick at work, drink excess fluids, and all those other things that are probably more important than any home remedy. Stay warm. Relax. You know what to do.