[contravariant]

I always did wonder about that. Current research implies that placebos work as long as you believe they will work, even if you know they are a placebo. But then why would you need the placebo in the first place?

There seems to be no need to do anything really, if you can just stop thinking you're feeling bad then you'll actually feel better.

In principle there's no need for any specific instructions on meditation either, but it does seem to be related to meditation where you also aim to stop thinking about certain things, so those instructions are likely to be useful, even if they only turn out to be yet another placebo. After you gain more confidence that you can do it, you should have less need for those instructions though.

[DanBC]

> Current research implies that placebos work as long as you believe they will work, even if you know they are a placebo.

It depends on the research. There's some that don't find a strong placebo response.