Decoding the Placebo Effect and Harnessing its Power

The mind and the body are amalgamated by neural and biochemical connections that communicate with each other. The placebo effect is corroboration of the reciprocal influence of the mind and the body. This paper comprehends the power of the placebo effect, providing a breakdown of its psychosocial context and explains the various ways of harnessing its power. This study employs secondary data collection from well published articles. The first objective of the study is to unpack the underlying components of the placebo effect. The second objective is to understand why the placebo effect is growing stronger and finally address ways to effectively leverage the placebo effect. The result of the first objective reveals that there are three main components of the placebo effect - the body's natural abilities, the psychological mechanisms and the social context. The result of the second objective articulates potential reasons for the growing power of placebos. The result of the third objective elucidates that the placebo effect can be used to our advantage by boosting our immune system, changing mindsets associated with medical procedures and enhancing the doctor - patient relationship. The basis of this research is to demonstrate that the placebo effect actually compliments the drug effect to produce an overall positive treatment effect and recommends that pharmacologists view this effect as favourable rather than a threat to the drug effect.