'Just breathe normally': word choices that trigger nocebo responses in patients.
Negative reactions to placebo medications -- sometimes called "nocebo effects" -- are well documented. Similar responses can be induced in suggestible patients when providers use language that tends to increase patients' stress and negative expectations. Several common "language traps" are examined and alternative ways to communicate with patients are suggested.
Schenk
Paul W
PW
Clinical Psychology, Private Practice, Tucker, GA, USA. drpaulschenk@earthlink.net
D001242:Assertiveness; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003144:Communication Barriers; D037001:Directive Counseling; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods; D009341:Negativism; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D015990:Placebo Effect; D011578:Psycholinguistics; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012660:Semantics; D012718:Set, Psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology