The contagious thought that could kill you.

[Mindful]

To die, sometimes you need only believe you are ill, and as David Robson discovers, we can unwittingly ‘catch’ such fears, often with terrifying consequences.

BBC - Future - The contagious thought that could kill you

 

[Mindful]

Quote---

Beware the scaremongers. Like a witch doctor’s spell, their words might be spreading modern plagues.

It’s a consistent phenomenon, but medicine has never really dealt with it — Ted Kaptchuk, Harvard Medical School

We have long known that expectations of a malady can be as dangerous as a virus. In the same way that voodoo shamans could harm their victims through the power of suggestion, priming someone to think they are ill can often produce the actual symptoms of a disease. Vomiting, dizziness, headaches, and even death, could be triggered through belief alone. It’s called the “nocebo effect”.

 

[B. Kidd]

Nocebo effect didn't work for me. For a year and a half I avoided going to a dermatologist because a mole on my shoulder looked like one of the type moles indicative of skin cancer. Finally I went to find out it was not.

 

[G.T.]

This is junk science.

"In the same way that voo doo shamans could harm," should have been a big enough hint.

 

[daws101]

it's been done before :