What is it about?
How do emotions like fear and anxiety influence our responses to a placebo? This article introduces a theoretical model that explains how a relatively stable tendency to react with fear and anxiety, along with the actual experience of fear and anxiety, contribute to the development of placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. Placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia refer to pain decreases and increases, respectively, that occur after administering a treatment that itself does not have a direct pain-targeted effect (a placebo).
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Why is it important?
The proposed model is the first attempt to integrate the role of fear and anxiety in the development of placebo effects in pain. Fear and anxiety, though often conflated, have distinct psychological and neurobiological characteristics that influence pain perception differently. Recognizing this distinction is essential for understanding the emotional mechanisms that drive pain responses to a placebo, and consequently, for developing strategies to enhance placebo hypoalgesia and reduce nocebo hyperalgesia frequently observed in clinical practice.
Perspectives
The current article addresses a gap in placebo and nocebo effects research: the need to clearly differentiate between fear and anxiety and understand their unique impacts. By advancing our understanding of these mechanisms, we aim to contribute to better, more personalized approaches to managing pain and improving patient outcomes.
Daryna Rubanets
Uniwersytet Jagiellonski w Krakowie
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: As different as fear and anxiety: Introducing the fear and anxiety model of placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia., Psychological Review, January 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000521.
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