You can catch the “nosebo” effect from family, friends, and even social media. But what is it actually?

Shortly after I arrived at work in 1998, a Tennessee high school teacher felt dizzy, “smells like gasoline.” Soon after that, many students and staff began reporting symptoms of chemotoxicity. Approximately 38 people had such extreme symptoms and were kept in hospital overnight.

Still an investigator No evidence was found The school was contaminated.

How did this US high school staff and students react to such an extreme without being exposed to toxic agents?

The answer is the “nosebo effect.”

What is the Nosebo effect?

Most people have heard of the placebo effect. There, they believe that fake treatment can improve someone's health.

The Nosebo effect is the opposite. It happens when someone is hoping for negative outcomes from harmless treatment or situations, which causes a deterioration in health.

Tennessee High School staff and students believed they were exposed to toxic gas leaks and expected symptoms. These negative expectations made them feel sick despite no gas leaks.

How is this related today?

When your doctor prescribes you a new medication, they should warn you about possible side effects so that some of you will give you informed consent.

However, knowing the side effects can mean that they are expected and therefore you will experience more side effects.

Large reviews found Almost 73% of people The drug trial spoke about the possibility that side effects may be reported despite being given a placebo and not receiving active treatment. This is an example of the Nosebo effect.

The effects of placebo and nosebo may also affect the effectiveness of actual medical treatments.

for example, In one studyParticipants led to expect powerful pain medications would give them a strong pain relief that reported almost twice as much pain relief as those who received the same drug, without being told they were pain medications. However, when participants were led to the same painkillers expected to worsen the pain, they did not relieve the pain – as if they had not received the medication at all.

How does the Nosebo effect develop?

We already know that just warning people about possible side effects is likely to be possible. We know that too Past experiences Therapy shapes what we expect and experience. If you have experienced pain from treatment in the past, this may result in you experiencing more pain when you receive that treatment again.

Currently, the effects of Nosebo are increasing Socially transmitted between peers. In other words, you can “catch” them from others, such as colds, except that just observing others causes transmission.

As shown, negative expectations can spread from person to person In one experiment. Observing that someone experienced more pain in response to treatment, even if the treatment they experienced was fake, the observer felt more pain in response to the same treatment when it was their turn.

Social media amplifies this and carries far more personal stories of disasters, regardless of accuracy.

For example, a 2021 tweet from singer Nicki Minaj claimed that the “vaccine” (probably a covid vaccine) gave her cousin friend a swollen test circle, leaving him “powerless.” This has been on her millions of followers and has over 100,000 likes! was generated. it was It was revealed a few days later.

One study found that negative stories about the side effects of the covid vaccine, especially from friends and social media, are linked. Stronger expectations Have the same symptoms. These expectations predicted actual side effects reported after vaccination.

an Australian research This effect was found to be amplified among individuals who were already worried about a lot about side effects, were worried or stressed, or who amplified social media (instead of mainstream sources) primarily for health information (instead of mainstream sources).

The effect can be serious

For individuals, the effects of Nosebo can lead to unnecessary suffering with real pain and discomfort. It can also cause unpleasant side effects Contribute to people Do not continue treatment as prescribed or abandon completely.

At a broader public health level, the nocebo effect can make it difficult to assess the safety of new technologies and public health interventions. For example, health concerns are Wireless signals and electromagnetic fields from 5G towerspossibly causing a range of physical symptoms such as headaches and insomnia.

In the laboratory, these symptoms It is due to Nosebo's answer It's not the nature of the technology itself.

When unfounded negative information takes hold, people are affected by true health, businesses face pushbacks, and wider communities can grow up doubting technologies that are generally considered safe based on available evidence.

What can we do about it?

Instead of relying on social media, individuals can reduce their chances of experiencing Nocebo-led symptoms by seeking reliable information from trustworthy medical sources and reputable healthcare institutions.

However, even the way side-effect information is conveyed contributes to the nosebo effect. Therefore, medical professionals may be able to help Discussion framing In a better way of potential side effects, and – if appropriate, emphasize that most patients will not cause problems.

Negative expectations can physically hurt us, and thanks to social media, they can spread widely and quickly. However, we can suppress the Nosebo effect by maintaining information, paying attention to our own beliefs, and insisting on thoughtful communication from health professionals and public health campaigns.