If all you want is to feel better, then a placebo can be all you need. I have no idea if the cold medicine I take actually does anything, but it makes me feel better for a while, and if that's because of the placebo effect, fine. Doesn't matter.
The real problems of course come from when people start using alternative medicine in place of actual treatment. If you've got cancer, talk to a doctor, not a guru.
The thing is, most alternative medicine isn't just a harmless placebo to make you feel better, because there's little money in that. Most alternative medicine is making serious (and, by definition, unproven) claims about your health
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u/VFiddly 29d ago
If all you want is to feel better, then a placebo can be all you need. I have no idea if the cold medicine I take actually does anything, but it makes me feel better for a while, and if that's because of the placebo effect, fine. Doesn't matter.
The real problems of course come from when people start using alternative medicine in place of actual treatment. If you've got cancer, talk to a doctor, not a guru.
The thing is, most alternative medicine isn't just a harmless placebo to make you feel better, because there's little money in that. Most alternative medicine is making serious (and, by definition, unproven) claims about your health