THE PAIN IS ALL IN YOUR HEAD

It’s strange enough that placebos work at all, but a new study found that the psychological self-deception goes even deeper. New experiments have shown that placebos which are perceived to be expensive are more effective than “cheaper” placebos, even when the fake pills are exactly the same. Researchers at Duke University tested the exact same fake drugs on 82 subjects after giving half of them a brochure describing the pill as a newly-approved pain-killer which cost $2.50 per dose, and the other half a brochure describing it as 10 cent generic version. Of those who took the higher priced drug, 85 percent experienced the benefits of the fake painkiller compared to only 61 percent of those who took the cheaper drug. (ABC News)