NRSC 4132 Blog

In Mike Nichols film "The Birdcage," Albert played by Nathan Lane, is an insecure, emotional-rollercoaster drag queen whose partner Armand, played by Robin Williams, is an unwavering, cautious entrepreneur. Albert's insecurities get the best of him on stage in addition to his relationship woes that cause him to act in a neurotically unstable fashion. When his self-image gets the best of him, he relies on "Pirin" tablets supplied by his houseboy to calm his nerves and give him so called confidence so he can perform on the stage, and keep the guests coming. Completely clueless to the fact that the "Pirin" tablets are just aspirin tablets with the "A" and "S" scratched off, Albert's "need" for them remains a religious habit.

Albert's surrender to the placebo effect isn't necessarily out of the norm when taking the general population into perspective. Research published in the Journal of Neuroscience surrounding the neurobiological mechanisms of the placebo effect could be used as an excuse as to why people like Albert succumb to pseudo-western medicine prescriptions and expectations to better their condition.

The placebo effect is a psychobiological phenomenon that can be attributable to different mechanisms, including expectation of clinical improvement. In Fabrizio Benedetti's research encompassing this effect, he notes that no matter what medical treatment a patient is receiving, their therapeutic outcome is surrounded by psychosocial contexts. The placebo effect has become a modern topic of interest among scientists and the general public in light of the fact that "we must broaden our conception of the limits of endogenous human capability."

If we can rely on our own homeostatic processes and reduce our usage of unnecessary western medications, some of which have detrimental side effects later in life, we can potentially better our overall well being. In Parkinson's disease research, a pool of patients was given an inert substance (the placebo) and were told that it was an "antiparkinsonian drug that produces an improvement in their motor performance." Results displayed that with their capability to measure endogenous dopamine release, the placebo-induced expectation of motor improvement activates endogenous dopamine in those patients. This ultimately led the patients to better therapeutic outcomes.

We know that the placebo effect is real. Patients involved in thousands of placebo-induced studies have shown a better therapeutic outcome when their expectations and knowledge of recovery is good. Recent uproars are now suggesting the idea of anti-depressant medications being glorified placebos. On account of the pharmaceutical boom for mental illnesses, scientists are heavily researching not only the accuracy of such drugs but the validity.

What does this mean for the Albert's of the world and the rest of us taking conceptually risky medications? Well, even though the thought of people halting their prescription use and relying on their endogenous human capability to run the ship seems amiable, it's not practical. People need medications. However, I definitely think pharmaceutical companies are where the problem lies. How do we know that the neurological drugs that our doctors are telling us we need are in fact necessary or even beneficial for that matter? We don?t. But there's no reason why we shouldn't question the men and women who attended a higher level of education to write us these prescriptions.