Placebo effect in sleep disorders
The placebo effect in sleep disorders in patients with various diseases has been studied repeatedly. The results varied to the extremes of his total acceptance and unconditional denial.
What you will learn in the article
- How placebo effects in sleep disorders varied from total acceptance to complete denial
- Why hospital conditions and treatment differences affected placebo results in insomnia studies
- How cognitive resonance theory linked clearer treatment decisions with stronger hypnotic placebo effect
- Why doctor authority and patient cooperation are described as important for placebo sleep effects
- How a personal story about a trusted bottle of sleeping pills illustrates placebo dependence on belief
Table of Contents
In 11 general hospitals, insomnia was treated with placebo. The results, as one might expect, were very different due to the fact that the treatment conditions significantly differed in different groups of patients. It was noted that, according to the theory of cognitive resonance, patients who were required to make a clear decision regarding their treatment had a greater hypnotic effect on placebo than patients who were not required to make such a decision.
In general, the positive placebo effect in sleep disorders, as in most other neuropsychiatric disorders, is determined by a variety of causes, external and internal. According to our observations, the greater the placebo effect, the higher the authority of the doctor, the greater the patient’s consent to cooperate with the doctor in achieving health restoration and recovery through joint efforts. The age of the patient, the diagnosis of the underlying disease, the duration of insomnia, the previous success or failure of drug therapy, the reputation of the drug (the name of which was encoded by placebo) and other factors usually considered in connection with placebo reactivity were important, but were not decisive.
An instructive story was told to me by the American psychiatrist Isidore Ziferstin, who worked at our institute in the 60s. He once helped his elderly aunt, for whom he was an indisputable authority as a doctor, by bringing her a bottle of “sleeping pills” (actually a placebo), which was then always on her bedside table, and she fell asleep perfectly, knowing that if she woke up at night, She’ll take her medicine and everything will be okay.
One day, a woman who was cleaning the house moved a bottle of “sleeping pills” somewhere, and my aunt completely lost sleep. No other pills prescribed by her doctors, nor psychotherapy, nor tea with milk, nor honey, nor warm baths before bedtime, recommended by close friends, did not help. Auntie believed only in the appointment of her beloved nephew. They found the bottle, returned it to its original place, and sleep was fully restored. Comments are unnecessary.
Taking a placebo before bedtime was accompanied by daytime sleepiness in healthy individuals.
Source: Lapin I. P. “Placebo and therapy”
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Key takeaways
- Insomnia was treated with placebo in 11 general hospitals
- Patients required to make a clear treatment decision had a greater hypnotic placebo effect
- Doctor authority and patient cooperation were described as stronger factors than diagnosis or insomnia duration
- An elderly aunt slept well when she believed her placebo bottle was available at night
- Taking placebo before bedtime was accompanied by daytime sleepiness in healthy individuals
Published
July, 2024
Duration of reading
1-2 min
Category
The placebo
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