Laser beams, placebos and other mind games.
Jump to full article: The Tyee (ca), 2008-04-11
Author: Amanda Stutt
Intro: Smoking, for the past 15 years, has been my demon. It owned me. I hunched with my cigarettes in alleys in the freezing rain. I got kicked out of a nightclub for smoking in the bathroom. I almost started a fire at an airstrip . . .
They do acknowledge the connection between placebo and curing addiction. But my addiction isn't cured. Like the alcoholic who can never have another drink, I can never have another cigarette.
I don't think I would have been able to quit unless I'd had my friends tell me the laser would work. I wouldn't have been able to quit without the woman waving the laser telling me I'd never smoke again if I believed I could be a non-smoker. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't believed the laser was working its magic on my brain. And when I took those vitamins, I believed they were purging my system of toxins. I believed in it, and it worked.
The experts have convinced me my "treatment" was merely a placebo.
Should I feel foolish about that? I don't. I'm a non-smoker.
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