The Power of Belief

Consider the amazing story reported by Ernest Rossi in his book The Psychobiology of Mind-Body Healing. Dr. Rossi recounted the story of Mr. Wright, as told by his personal physician, Dr. Phillip West, over thirty years ago. Mr. Wright suffered from an advanced malignancy of the lymph nodes known as lymphosarcoma. His condition was terminal and he had deteriorated to the point where his physician thought death was imminent. He had tumors the size of oranges in his neck, groin, chest, and abdomen. His spleen and liver were grossly enlarged. Copious amounts of fluid were drawn from his chest on a daily basis. He was bedridden and had severe difficulty breathing. All standard cancer treatments of that time, including radiation, had proved useless. Although his doctors had given up hope for his recovery, Mr. Wright maintained an optimistic attitude, for since the onset of his illness he had held fast to a belief that a miracle drug would come along to save the day.

This expectation was fulfilled when newspapers reported that a newly developed drug, Krebiozen, showed significant promise in the treatment of cancer. This hope was further heightened when he learned that the hospital where he was staying would be included in a research project studying the effectiveness of this new drug. Even though he did not fit the criteria for inclusion in the study (because of the advanced nature of his condition), he begged his doctors to include him in the treatment protocol. Against their better judgment his doctors included him in the study, fully expecting he would die within the week, thus freeing up a supply of Krebiozen for another patient.

His response to the drug was nothing short of miraculous! Within several days he went from death's door to walking around the ward, joking with nurses. His tumors were half their original size. After ten days of Krebiozen treatment, he was discharged from the hospital with his cancer in complete remission. In the meantime, early results of the study indicated that this miracle drug appeared to be ineffective in the treatment of cancer. Unfortunately, Mr. Wright became aware of these initial reports of the lack of effectiveness of the drug, and within a short period of time he completely relapsed.

Clearly, it wasn't the Krebiozen that was responsible for his improvement, but the power of his belief. In order to test this out, his doctors decided to see if they could recreate the previous results. They deliberately lied to him and told him not to believe the discouraging results he had read in the newspapers. They further informed him that Krebiozen was highly effective, and that his relapse occurred because his last doses had deteriorated on the shelf. They further added that he would be receiving double-strength dosages from a fresh shipment of the drug that would restore him to health. Then, with great fanfare, they proceeded to inject him with saline solution, nothing but a placebo. What do you think happened? Again he made a remarkable recovery, even quicker than the first time. He was discharged from the hospital and remained in complete remission for two months, until reports appeared in the press that Krebiozen had proved to be totally worthless in the treatment of cancer. Mr. Wright quickly relapsed and was readmitted to the hospital, dying two days later.

What can be learned from this? You could conclude that the lesson here is that Mr. Wright should have stopped reading the newspaper! But obviously what is evident, and rather amazing, is that it was purely the power of Mr. Wright's belief that affected his physiology. Doctors would dismiss this as a dramatic example of the placebo effect. We often hear our colleagues in the health profession refer to similar, if less dramatic, results with their own cases as “just a placebo.” To us, the fact that it's just a placebo opens up a whole new range of possibilities. Rather than an area to be dismissed, we consider this a phenomenon to be explored fully. The consensus in the field is that 30 percent of the effectiveness of any treatment, including drugs, can be accounted for by placebo effects. One highly respected researcher in the area of stress reduction and the mind-body connection, Herbert Benson, (1976, 1985) believes the placebo effect is responsible for 80 percent of the success of all treatments.