Believe, Perceive, Repeat is a term that I have been using for some time now. What is it, and what does it mean? That phrase is simply another way of looking at the Placebo effect. I am sorry, but I just cannot get enough of this topic.

Personal example, when I was very young I was plagued with ear infections. Not just the swimmer ear type, but severe, excruciating pain that I can not even begin to describe. It would start in one ear, then graduate to the other, and sometimes back again. This went of for quite a few years, actually my first twelve years of life. No matter what I did, there was no getting rid of this horrible curse. Many doctors gave their theories, diagnosis, and medications, but none of them worked.

One of these episodes was so bad that my mom brought me to a specialist. After the examination, he looks at me and asked me how long this was going on. When I told him that they happened as long as I could remember he just shook his head. I now believe that he shook his head because of the years of unnecessary pain that I endured. This white haired doctor says “Let me tell you a little secret, those other doctors have no idea what they are doing.” He goes on to explain that air was getting trapped somewhere in the air canal, how the bacteria was forming, and even pulled out diagrams and pictures for me to see. “All you need to do is find a way to release that trapped air, and the pressure releases… no more pain.” WOW was my expression, but “how do I release the air?” The doc tells me to pinch my nose and make as if I am going to blow it. This action caused my ears to pop, and the pressure released. Over TWENTY years have gone by since, and I have never had another earache.

Good story right? But the question is “Why?”. Why did that work and not any of the other doctors and specialists? Was is the technique? Did he trick me in some way? Was the something wrong with the meds that I got from others? The answer to all of those questions is NO. The only difference was I BELIEVED him. He convinced me to believe the other doctors were wrong, then showed me some pictures which made me Perceive. This was Repeated when he explained the ear popping procedure and I Believed, then I Perceived again as I actually popped them. Believe, Perceive, Repeat = Placebo Effect.

If a doctor had good bedside manner, he would not only explain what a pill or procedure is for, but EMPHASIZE how great it will be… creating and enhancing any placebo or mind perceptions and related effect. Instead, they simply say that it COULD or MIGHT help alleviate this symptom, but if not, come on back in and we will try something else. WTF?!?!?!
How can someone go through 8 years of schooling and not KNOW what he is doing?

So again, what is placebo? Placebo is EVERYTHING! I don’t care if you are a super star or a loser, healthy or sick, it is all in your mind. Wait you say, what about when I broke my arm last year, how is that in my mind? Well, easy, your mind allowed for the accident to happen in the first place. There was some point where you worried, even if for a moment, the possibility of you getting hurt, or failing, or losing, or whatever the case may be, and it happened. Understand that this can be conscious or even unconscious.

Placebo is merely a very advanced conditioned response, either positive or negative, good or bad. Your mind believes through conditioning from a parent, friend, TV, advertisement, or teachers and then your body manifests the reality of the possibility.

I can prove this with a simple experiment. Close your eyes.(after reading the entire experiment of course) Now I want you to imagine a nice shiny, green lime. You know, the ones that get cut up and put into a Corona bottle. Mentally think about what it would be like to remove the lime wedge from the Corona bottle, and biting right into it.

What happened? You might have cringed, shake your head, pucker your mouth, and probably even salivate. You are conditioned, through experience, to recall the same SYMPTOMS of a sour taste.

The same goes with fear, pain, love, emotion, sickness, success, failure, and everything else. Do the same experiment above, but this time, instead of thinking about eating a lime, imagine the worst accident that you ever had. Most people can instantly recall the pain of that experience, even though there is no injury present.

Fear is a big one for this. Why are you afraid of dogs while I am not? Maybe it was because you were bitten before? Well, I have been bitten by at least 10 dogs, but still no fear. So what is it then, where does the fear actually come from? Well, again it is a conditioned response both for me and you. I grew up around dogs, and was always told by my parents how great they are. I understood, through their repetitive conditioning, that dogs were awesome, but they could bite if provoked. Now anytime I have been bitten I know that it is my fault, not theirs. The dog is ALSO conditioned to bite according to the way he was trained (or not trained). Believe, Perceive, Repeat.

Quite the opposite is true if you are afraid of dogs. Maybe your parents were afraid of them because of their perceptions, and they passed them down to you, or someone else, even television. If a child, or even adult watches the same thing on TV day after day, don’t you think they will start to Believe whatever garbage is put there?

This includes ads for medicines, and their long lists of side effects. The side effects are not there to warn you, they are there to CREATE new symptoms to treat with MORE medications. Why do you think they do this? MONEY.

So now that we know what it is, what do we do with that knowledge? How do we recognize this placebo conditioning when it is happening, and how can we make our own? How can we structure our lives and create custom placebos that will benefit us, and how do we eliminate the ones already established?

Sorry, but that information will come with the next Mind article. It will be titled Creating the Placebo. But before I post another Mind article, I must balance this one with a Body post. Balance is the key to power and success.

bryan j bailey