The Nocebo Effect

“In this pioneering book, leading researchers show how words help shape our conscious experience of the world, which in turn directly affects our bodies and our health. The more we know, the more we can say ‘no’ to nocebos.”–John Bargh, Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Yale University, and author of Before You Know It: The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do

“An excellent and well-written discussion of ‘the pla­cebo effect’s evil twin’ by leading researchers in the field. Reading this book has the potential of decreasing the reader’s experience of nocebo effects, and for that reason, I highly recommend that it be read by everyone.”–Irving Kirsch, Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at the Harvard Medical School and author of The Emperor’s New Drugs

“An outstanding compilation of the latest research by eminent researchers in the field. Written in an understandable way, The Nocebo Effect is a helpful manual for readers to stop “nocebo-ing” themselves.“–Jeremy Howick, Director of the Stoneygate Centre for Empathic Healthcare at the University of Leicester, Director of the Oxford Empathy Program, and author of The Powerful Placebo

“A fascinating multidisciplinary volume that offers a comprehensive understanding of an underappreciated force in medicine and psychology, and provides illuminating insights into improving care.”–Rob Henderson, founding faculty fellow at UATX and author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class

“The nocebo effect has been so far understudied and underestimated compared to the placebo effect. This volume fills that gap by providing an exciting, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary account of a phenomenon that certainly needs more attention.”–Fabrizio Benedetti, M.D., Professor of Neurophysiology, University of Turin Medical School, Turin, Italy

“This book is needed, comprehensive, evidence-based and, most importantly, opens as many discussions as it provides answers. A must-have and must-read for anyone in clinical practice and research.”–Prof. Dr. Jens Gaab, University of Basel, Switzerland

Michael H. Bernstein, Ph.D., is an experimental psychologist and an Assistant Professor in The Department of Diagnostic Imaging at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School. His work is focused on harnessing the placebo effect to reduce opioid use among pain patients. He is Director of the Medical Expectations Lab at Brown.

Charlotte Blease, Ph.D., is a philosopher and interdisciplinary health researcher at Digital Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University, Sweden. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and a winner in 2012 of the UK-wide BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Thinkers Competition. Dr. Blease has written extensively about the ethics of placebo and nocebo effects. Her research has been profiled by international news outlets.

Cosima Locher, Ph.D., is a psychologist and researcher at the Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Switzerland. She is dedicated to studying honest (e.g., “open-label”) placebos. She is published in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as PAIN, the American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA Psychiatry, and JAMA Pediatrics. Dr. Locher is a co-founder of The Pain Net, an international network of researchers interested in Chronic Primary Pain, including with a special focus on the placebo effect.

Walter A. Brown, M.D, is a Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He has studied the placebo effect for the past 40 years, and is the author of three books, including The Placebo Effect in Clinical Practice.

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