Even placebos can help reduce stress, anxiety: Study

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A team of scientists has found that even placebos can help reduce stress, anxiety and depression in people remotely.

The study, published in the journal Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, found that the non-deceptive group showed a significant decrease in stress, anxiety and depression in just two weeks compared to the no-treatment control group.

Participants also reported that the non-deceptive placebos were easy to use, not burdensome and appropriate for the situation.

For the study, researchers recruited participants experiencing prolonged stress from the pandemic for a two-week randomised controlled trial.

The participants interacted with a researcher online through four virtual sessions on Zoom.

Those in the non-deceptive placebo group received information on the placebo effect and were sent placebo pills in the mail along with and instructions on taking the pills.

Jason Moser, co-author and professor in Michigan State University's Department of Psychology, said that exposure to long-term stress can impair a person's ability to manage emotions and cause significant mental health problems long-term.

"We are excited to see that an intervention that takes minimal effort can still lead to significant benefits," Moser added. "This minimal burden makes non-deceptive placebos an attractive intervention for those with significant stress, anxiety and depression."

The researchers are hopeful in the ability to remotely administer the non-deceptive placebos by health care providers.

"This ability to administer non-deceptive placebos remotely increases scalability potential dramatically," said Darwin Guevarra, co-author of the study and postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco.

Remotely administered non-deceptive placebos have the potential to help individuals struggling with mental health concerns who otherwise would not have access to traditional mental health services, the researchers noted.

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