For some medical complaints, open-label placebos work just as well as deceptive ones.
..there is a documented “placebo effect,” which means that some people actually respond to a placebo even though it shouldn’t have an effect on the body. This has been thought to be largely due to their beliefs or expectations that they are getting the real treatment and not the fake one. But what if people were told, up-front, that they were getting a placebo and not an active medication? It stands to reason the placebo would have no effect. Right?
Wrong.
“People can still get a placebo response, even though they know they are on a placebo,” he adds. “You don’t need deception or concealment for many conditions to get a significant and meaningful placebo effect.”