Placebo from guilt

Researchers from the University of Basel found that placebo can help reduce guilt, even if the patient knows about its use.

People do not always behave flawlessly in relations with others. Therefore, they often have to feel guilty. This unpleasant feeling prompts a person to take measures to correct the situation - for example, to apologize or admit his guilt. Feeling of guilt is considered an important moral emotion, if it is adaptive, in other words, it is appropriate and proportional to the situation. “It can improve interpersonal relations and therefore valuable for social cohesion,” says Dilan Sezer, a researcher at the department of clinical psychology and psychotherapy of the University of Basel. However, there are cases when a psychotherapist needs to reduce the acuteness of guilt in his patient. If the feeling of guilt is irrational and persists for a long period of time, it is considered inadequate. Such emotions can affect people's health, as well as, among other things, are a common symptom of depression.

During the new study, the participants were asked to write about cases when they neglected important rules of conduct or unfairly treated someone close to, caused them pain or harm. The idea was that participants should feel bad because of the selected situation. Then they were divided into three groups. In one of the groups, people received a placebo tablets, but they were told that this was a real medicine. In another group, the participants knew that they were given a placebo. Finally, the third group was controlled and did not receive any drugs.

The results showed that guilt decreased significantly in both groups that received a placebo compared to those who did not take medicines. “Our study confirms the intriguing conclusion that the placebo is working even when it is introduced openly, and that the explanation of treatment is the key to its effectiveness,” says the leading author of the study by Dylan Seser.

Previously, studies have shown that placebo can be effective in the treatment of depression. But the fact that an open placebo can be useful for such strong emotions as guilt is first discovered. Dylan Seser says scientists should try to use this to help patients. “The introduction of a placebo in an open form, in particular, is a promising approach, as it retains the autonomy of patients, allowing them to fully realize how the intervention works,” he says. It is necessary to conduct further research to find out whether it is possible to treat a maladaptive feeling of guilt with a placebo. It is still unknown whether similar effects are possible in other emotional states. But Seser is confident in one thing: “The use of placebo in an open form can become inexpensive and simple option for the treatment of many psychological and physical complaints.”

The conclusions of researchers are published in the journal Scientific Reports.