[Uehreka]

Not necessarily. The placebo effect is the kind of thing where you might have trouble at first telling if your symptoms are improving or if you’re just having a “good day” or an “easy week”, and that confusion can even last a month or two during which you’re over-observing your internal state and feeling hopeful that “maybe this is what getting better feels like”. But in the long term you often figure it out.

I had a placebo effect recently when switching ADHD medication to get around the shortages. For a couple months I thought there was a chance my new meds might actually be better, they definitely felt different (and still do). But six months in it’s clear to me that I’m struggling with productivity more than I was before I switched (though less than when I was off meds).

I’m just one guy, but I’d guess this is why doctors don’t just prescribe placebos all the time as actual therapies (well, that and they’d lose credibility which would then destroy any remaining placebo effect).