The voice in your head

Mind-body connections are amazing.

Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

I just read “Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It,” (2021) by psychologist Ethan Kross. (To be honest, I would have titled it “Your Head,” but that’s me.)

It’s a good read if you have the inclination, but easy to summarize, just go to Conclusion chapter. I much preferred James Mapes’ “Imagine That! Igniting Your Brain for Creativity and Peak Performance” (2016). Mapes includes video links in his book that help illustrate his concepts.

In any case, in “Chatter,” there is an item about placebo usage in the chapter “Mind Magic,” and I found it fascinating.

There’s the basic placebo effect we all know: if you are told and/or believe some product or activity will make you feel better, it may work..maybe half the time or more. Personally, I do believe in this power-of-suggestion type thing.

But there’s something different Kross got into, the “nondeceptive placebo effect.”

He started questioning how placebos work.

If placebos are fundamentally about changing beliefs, then what if we could identify other ways of altering people’s expectations that don’t involve lying? Information from trusted sources is a potent persuasive device. If I want to convince you of something that you’re skeptical of, facts and science often help.

So, he did research and studies. One study focused on explaining to all participants with IBS symptoms the how and why placebos work. Half were then given placebo pills, and knew they were placebo pills. Half were given no pills. Outcome: Those who received the placebo pills “displayed fewer IBS symptoms and greater relief compared with people who were educated about placebos and didn’t receive any pills.”

So placebos work even if you know they are placebos? Is this completely weird?

It’s at least interesting, though, right? The mind is a wonder for sure. And the body along with it.

Anyway, regarding the chatter in the title, the main topic here, Kross reviews what this nagging inner voice inside us is. I think we all know and hear it whenever we are ruminating on something that brings a lot of negativity into our day (or nights). It’s the critic that brings up the troubling thoughts that just do not stop.

The author offers suggestions using tools to “resolve the tension between getting caught in negative thought spirals and thinking clearly.”

How to get out of your head?

Two of his tips that I use a lot: Self-talk, like treating and talking to yourself as any good parent would treat her children. He calls this, “Imagine advising a friend.” Or, thinking about how important this particular situation or experience will be in the future; it may not be as all-encompassing as it is in this moment. His wording: “Engage in mental time travel.”

My best tip: Self-talk for sure, but try to do some yoga, especially breathing. Just concentrating on one thing like this is enough to pull you out of the pit – at least temporarily. Conscious breathing exercises really do work. (And I am a certified yoga teacher.) I’ll cover more about my own suggestions in another post.

But now back to the “nondeceptive placebos.” Google turns up a number of articles, not all new, but remarkable for sure. Also called “authorized deception.”

Here’s one from the National Library of Medicine:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20172652/

Headline and findings:

“Inclusion of authorized deception in the informed consent process does not affect the magnitude of the placebo effect for experimentally induced pain

These findings suggest that the use of authorized deception is a viable and ethically preferable alternative consent process for laboratory-based studies on placebo analgesia. Further studies are needed to examine the effect of authorized deception in clinical trials and other placebo research within a clinical setting.”

That’s it for this post, from my head to yours.