Most of us understand the concept of placebo . . . usually in the context giving a patient sugar pills with the suggestion that they are actually medicine and the patient receiving relief simply through the power of the belief in the suggestion . . . well, suggestion of this type can go both ways.

The Placebo Effect is a beneficial effect via suggestion while the Nocebo Effect is harmful effects created by suggestion.  Originally, the use of the term nocebo was limited to pharmacological studies in which the non-chemically caused unpleasant side-effects within a patient’s experience were cataloged from the administration of a placebo.  These were found to have occurred not from actual drugs but from the patients’ negative expectations of what could happen.

Today, the nocebo effect has branched out to mean harmful effects based upon expectation or suggestion.  So, if I tell you that my sugar pills will make you feel better and you accept the suggestion you feel better but if I stand in front of you with my voodoo doll (the blue one) in one hand and a large hat pin in the other and stick the pin in and tell you that I am negatively affecting your health in this way and your unconscious accepts the suggestion (it does NOT matter if you consciously believe the suggestion here, it only matters that your unconscious emotionally accepts the suggestion) then you begin to feel poorly.

Yes, there really are genuinely demonstrated cases of death by suggestion.  I personally know of such examples.

This is also why it’s very important for health care professionals to use clean language when working with folks (I’m currently undergoing two glorious root canal procedures, back and forth to the hospital for the sessions) and casually mentioned to my dentist that she might consider using the words “some discomfort” instead of “feel pain” and have noticed that she has taken it on board since.

Parents need to watch out how they speak to their kids too.

The more vulnerable the person is in terms of context or age or the like and the more likely they might take on a negative suggestion . . . of course, they are also more likely to take on positive suggestions so it’s a very good idea to give bolstering suggestions to the young and the vulnerable.

No, you’re not really going to find many provable cases of murder by nocebo . . . but the possibility of causing harm is always there . . . intended or otherwise.  See http://io9.com/5639545/plan-the-perfect-murder-with-the-nocebo-effect for IO9’s discussion.

– Brian