Can your thoughts make you sick? | Charlotte Blease, PhD & Cosima Locher, PhD

“Being aware of the nocebo effect can make you feel more in control,” says Charlotte Blease, PhD and Cosima Locher, PhD. 

Charlotte Blease, health informaticist and associate professor, and Cosima Locher, psychologist and researcher, join us today to discuss the nocebo effect, the power of our belief systems, the influence of information, plus: 

- What is the nocebo effect? (~2:20)

- Covid19 and the nocebo effect (~4:30)

- Misattribution and amplification (~6:04)

- The history of the nocebo effect (~9:50)

- The evolutionary perspective (~11:57)

- Case studies (~14:04)

- Mindset and diagnoses (~18:43)

- The role technology plays (~22:07) 

- How to train your mind (~24:03)

- What to pay attention to (~26:25)

- Ethical dilemmas of knowledge (~27:10)

- The power of communication (~30:00)

- Nonverbal cues (~33:30)

- Research on the nocebo effect (~36:16)

- Communication with children (~40:34)

Referenced in the episode: 

- Check out their book The Nocebo Effect (https://www.amazon.com/Nocebo-Effect-When-Words-Make/dp/B0BQR6PLMY)

- Research on empathy and AI in delivery of medical information " (DOI:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.1838)

- Research on positive framing and peanut allergies (doi: 10.1016/j.jaip.2019.01.022) 

- Research on the nocebo effect on post operative pain (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.10.023) 

- Research on nausea and classical conditioning (doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i25.3430)

We hope you enjoy this episode, and feel free to watch the full video on YouTube! Whether it's an article or podcast, we want to know what we can do to help here at mindbodygreen. Let us know at: podcast@mindbodygreen.com.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices