NOCEBO

February 18, 2010

Nocebo
\’no-‘se-bo\ n : a harmless substance that when taken by a patient is associated with harmful effects due to negative expectations or the psychological condition of the patient.

I am (according to many) a hypochondriac. I get one little ache or pain and I am immediately sitting in that waiting room (right along with the patients who have whopping cough or blood coming out of a specific orifice) ready to be told that I needn’t have worried; it’s nothing. Most often than not, I tend to rely on my friend reverse-psychology – I tell myself it’s nothing, it usually turns out to be serious and vice versa. There was only one time when I thought a nocebo given to me for my asthma was making me jittery based on my nervous mindset that this was my first asthma attack. Needless to say, the nurse came in a few minutes later, took one look at my ashen face and then decided to inform me that the medicine in the nebulizer tended to make patients jumpy. I knew it wasn’t solely the “psychological condition of the patient.” I had just simply been uninformed…