blocks the receptor sites for both morphine and endorphins ( endogenous morphine ) in the brain , the patients ? pain returned . This demonstrated that by taking the placebos , the patients had been creating their own endorphins ? their own apothecary of natural pain relievers .
If the human body can act like its own pharmacy , producing its own pain drugs , then might it not also be true that it ? s fully capable of dispensing other natural drugs when they ? re needed from the infinite blend of chemicals and healing compounds the body houses ? drugs that act just like the ones doctors prescribe ?
Demystifying the Placebo Effect
If you contemplate this phenomenon for a moment , you might realize that the pill , which is nothing more than a placebo , is a ? symbol of possibility ? for the patient . It represents a new potential for future outcomes in their personal health . They simply associate the pill with getting better ? and it ? s all based on their past experiences when other pills worked to improve their symptoms . We have been conditioned into believing an external substance can change or heal our internal states , and for the most part that ? s how conditioning works . Conditioning is based on the past . It ? s grounded in the known .
But what happens next is quite amazing . Once we associate the known external cue with an internal chemical change , we naturally anticipate the future outcome to be like our past memory , and as a result , the expectation of the event produces a change in the body ? s physiology . We could say that the thought of getting better is a new potential in an infinite realm of possibilities that await us . Thus expectation of a future reality , called feeling better , causes the body to change in anticipation of the event . If conditioning is based on the past ,
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If the human body can act like its own pharmacy , producing its own pain drugs , then might it not also be true that it ? s fully capable of dispensing other natural drugs when they ? re needed from the infinite blend of chemicals and healing compounds the body houses ? drugs that act just like the ones doctors prescribe ?
then expectation is based on the future .
Think of it this way ? the pill is a symbol that represents the thought of a new possibility in our future reality called getting better or healthy . Once we are reminded of what it can do , we begin looking forward to the outcome we want . In essence , we can naturally combine the clear intention of getting better with an elevated emotion like inspiration , enthusiasm , excitement , joy , or gratitude . The more we are educated with the potential knowledge and information on how the substance works , the more we can assign meaning to how it can help us ( which by the way isn ? t even true ? remember it ? s a placebo ). Another way to think of it is the more clearly we can create images in our mind of how it can literally heal us , the better chance we have of actually being healed . So if the doctor tells us how the drug ( placebo ) works , and we believe him or her because we saw the pictures in a brochure , then we will have more intent on it working .
Consequently , when we associate that new thought with a different feeling , our body ( as the unconscious mind ) does not know the difference between the actual event and the one that we created by thought alone . Therefore , the body begins to respond as if the new future reality is occurring in the present moment . Think of ? thoughts ? as the vocabulary of the brain and ? feelings ? as the vocabulary of the body . How you think and how you feel creates your state of being . It