The Power of Suggestion

(I've also published this post on my Seeking Homeostasis blog - but I wanted to include it here as well.)

I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently. Over the weekend I took a 3-day myofascial release workshop, and I learned some great new techniques for intensive fascial massage. However, throughout the weekend I was struck by how much we’re subjected to the power of suggestion – especially from an authority figure.

There were several demonstrations where the instructor would have someone in the class stand before the rest of us in her sports bra (so we could see her musculoskeletal structure more easily). The student would stand in front of us both before and after his mini-treatment session and we’d all gasp with wonder, “Wow, her ribs are expanding much better now when she breathes!” and “Look at how much length her neck got!”

So what’s going on here? Did my classmate really get this wonderful fascial release in a few minutes? Did she expect to feel differently, and thus held her body in a better posture (albeit unconsciously)? Did she look exactly the same but we thought she looked better because we wanted to see a change? Is it some combination of the above?

I’m placing my bets on the power of suggestion – resulting in the placebo effect – comprising at least a decent percentage of this suspected change. When we’re given information from an authority figure, and it’s said with confidence, we find it mighty appealing to believe whatever they tell us.

I used to think placebo effects were relatively benign; and I still think they can be. Who cares what it is that makes you feel better? As long as you feel better, it doesn’t matter. To a certain degree, this is true – the end goal has been reached. But sometimes it does matter. When we attribute specific treatments as the cause of our healing, this can be a potentially dangerous situation. For example, if I think I’m feeling crappy because I’m suffering with low back pain, I’ll treat that low back pain with something will alleviate this pain. If I’m opposed to taking painkillers, I might seek that relief in bodywork, herbs, yoga, or some other form of alternative healthcare. However, if the true source of my back pain is related to the fact that I’m repressing emotional issues (and there are many sources that indicate this as a possibility), I’ll never discover this because I’ll be treating the symptoms with one of the previously mentioned modalities. Sure, they may get the job done but the back pain will continue to be a problem because the true cause of the pain remains unknown. And I’ll continue to treat it with something that may not really work, but because I’ve been led to believe it does, I’ll keep doing it.

I don’t mean to imply that symptom treatment is all bunk; it clearly holds an important place in mitigating pain. Sometimes we need to be freed of our symptoms in order to have the physical and emotional energy to target the underlying cause. And since the physical and emotional pains feed into each other, we may make progress in both by interrupting the cycle wherever we can.