Research has shown it time and again: Fake medicine works on the body because the mind believes it’s working. That’s the famous placebo effect. Now scientists are discovering that a doctor’s words also affect our biology. When doctors convey bad news—“you’ve only so many months to live”—patients seem to adjust to that perspective and more often die indeed within the given timeframe. It’s called nocebo: a negative announcement of a doctor subtly becomes reality in the mind of the patient. But should the truth be holy? It’s also been proven that patients recover faster and live longer when the doctor lies. So the truth is complex. It appears that “subjective” relationship is more important that “objective” medical facts—and that’s heartening news.
Doctors who lie help patients heal faster and live longer
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