Placebo a nocebo efekt - Jak nám pozitivní a negativní myšlenky ovlivňují zdraví a život. – Schröder Hartmut (2023)

The placebo effect refers to a treatment that does not contain an active ingredient but still results in positive physiological changes. The administration of a placebo not only leads to immediate improvement in condition but sometimes also pathological (negative) changes can be observed. These effects of the placebo are referred to as the nocebo effect. The aim of the book is to describe the mechanism of the placebo effect and to clarify the ambiguities surrounding this term. ***** We assume that the placebo and nocebo effects arise from a combination of several factors. We will show that the placebo and nocebo effects can occur even without the administration of a placebo and without the patient being "deceived". Triggers can be internal (attitudes, expectations, and beliefs of both the patient and the doctor) and external factors (communication between the doctor and the patient, therapeutic environment, etc.). However, these triggers do not act on their own. The decisive influence on their therapeutic effect is self-regulation or self-healing. The mentioned factors that explain the emergence of the placebo and nocebo effects are actually impulses for self-regulation, meaning they stimulate the body's own healing abilities. We will describe in more detail how this occurs in this book.