I Will Please

Minions, I am going to break from my recent economic kick with a subject that I know very little. That subject is the mind-body connection. I've picked it because it perplexes me.
Let’s talk about the placebo effect (Latin for I will please). Think about it, you give a person a sugar pill (or some other inert substance) and suddenly their depression is gone. What does this tell us? It tells us that our mind has an incredible amount of control over our bodies, despite what some people think.

Here are some enhancing factors to the placebo effect:
* Color. Red, yellow, or orange worked better as stimulants. While blue, green, or purple worked better as depressants. (here)
* Big rather than small capsules.
* Two tablets are more effective than one.
* Branded proprietary tablets are more effective than unbranded ones. (here)
* The higher the price the more effective. By telling patients that a drug cost $2.50 rather than 10 cents pain relief increased from 61% to 85.4%.
* Injections have larger effect than pills. (here)
* Devices (like sham acupuncture) are more effective than inert pills.
* If administered by authority figures.
* If inert substance is pre-associated in past experience with a real effect. (here)
* Regularly taking placebo pills as opposed to forgetting to take them sporadically. (here)
* Enthusiastic supportive attitude of the doctor about their effectiveness. Example: the response of a placebo increased from 44% to 62% when the doctor gave the placebo with "warmth, attention, and confidence." (here)

All of these enhancing factors help us understand just how much our mind can influence our bodies’ response. The placebo effect happens when your mind delivers a positive reaction to an inert substance. The next question you should be asking yourselves is: do our minds ever deliver a negative reaction?