As somebody with a general disdain for woo-based healing e.g., acupuncture, New Age medicine, crystals, etc., I’m troubled by the fact that there are cases where it, for lack of a better word, works.
Everybody knows the cliche, anedotal cases: my aunt / friend / collie had cancer / chronic pain / goosepimples; the doctors tried everything, but the only thing that helped was acupuncture.
I’d also wager most readers here are also aware that evidence suggests that such healing methods tend to work roughly as well as placebos.
That, however, is not insignificant: placebos can work pretty well, too.
The conundrum is that, should somebody “run out” of legitimate medical options, a doctor can’t say, “here, take this placebo. It’s just like having your chakras aligned.” It won’t work – the patient’s faith in medicine is probably shaken already, and placebos aren’t effective unless the patient “buys” in.
Is there a good option? Is there a way to harness the good placebo effects without tricking the patient or devaluing research-based medicine? Or is this too much of an edge case to bother with?