For decades, the scientific and popular attitude toward the so-called “placebo effect” has largely been negative, e.g., according to Wikipedia a placebo “is a sham (my italics) substance or treatment which is designed to have no known therapeutic value.” Yet, there is burgeoning scientific evidence indicating the substantial power of placebo and its involvement in our beliefs and expectations (what is referred to as “mindset”). Erik Vance, a science journalist and author of Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain’s Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal, documents the positive impact of placebo intervention in the treatment of diverse medical problems including pain, depression, anxiety, addiction, autoimmune diseases, and even Parkinson’s disease. He explains how the brain is a “prediction-making machine” that “creates expectations;” through both “conscious” and “unconscious” mechanisms, Vance argues, placebos trigger the brain and nervous system to release endogenous opioids that result in a relief of physical symptoms (not just the perception of relief). Alia Crum, a researcher and director of Stanford’s Mind and Body Lab, has conducted a series of fascinating studies on the relationship between mindset (expectations/beliefs) and physiological outcomes. In a study of housekeepers (one group: told that housekeeping was valuable exercise; control group: not told this), Crum found that the former group lost more weight, experienced lower blood pressure levels, and dropped more body fat than the control group. Another study by Crum centered on the consumption of milkshakes: one group was told the milkshake they drank was “indulgent” and high in calories and fat vs. another group who was told they drank a low calorie/healthy milkshake. Even though both groups drank a milkshake of identical calorie and fat content, the second group (who apparently drank the low-calorie milkshake) showed a three-fold drop in a gut peptide marker of satiety. Thus, if you “believed” you drank a high-fat milkshake, you felt (and your body signaled as much) fuller and more satiated.

In the next virtual meeting of the Men’s Group Seminar on Saturday, November 5, 2022 (10:15 to 11:30 AM), we will explore the implications of this research on how we approach and may attempt to manipulate our mindsets to achieve desirable psychological and physiological effects. The Choiceology podcast episode “Mindful of Mindsets” featuring Erik Vance and Alia Crum will be our central focus. Additional material we will consider includes Vance’s “Suggestible You – You Can’t Believe Everything You Think” and Crum’s TEDx Talk “Change Your Mindset, Change the Game.” We will also discuss current neurobiological models of mindset influences.

*Registration Directions: If you would like to attend the next virtual meeting of the Men’s Group Seminar on Saturday, November 5, 2022, 10:15 AM to 11:30 AM, please RSVP to me at 949-338-4388 or jt@jamestobinphd.com no later than Thursday, November 3, 2022. The fee is $25.00 (payable before entering the virtual meeting) and informed consent for participation in this telehealth event must be completed prior to the seminar. Please note that the Men’s Group Seminar is psychoeducational in nature, not therapeutic, and does not constitute psychotherapy or counseling.