Can one really get ill by worrying too much?

To answer this question, we have to start to explain what a placebo is, and after that to define what negative placebo effect is.

Wikipedia defines placebo as follow:

“A placebo is an inert substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.”

In many studies of new medicines following procedure is done. Three groups of people are chosen.

The first group is the group which has some illness for example cancer. This group does not get this new medicine. This group is called the control group.

The second is people with the same illness but this group will get access and treatment with the new medicine.

A third group is a group that also has the same illness and they believe that they are getting new medicine, but the fact is that they are only getting a placebo. The “medicine” which they get has not proven an effect on their illness.

Studies show that many new medications fail to get approved because of the group which gets the placebo show as good recovery (not all of them of course) result as those who get real medication.

The placebo effect has been proven and there is no dispute about it. Although scientists cannot explain why. This effect is called the placebo effect.

In many cases when people are thinking and worried about an illness, they finally get a specific illness just because they are so focused on the illness. The reason for this is the fact that one unknowingly falls into a negative placebo effect.