Corona vaccination: How to prevent the nocebo effect

After the corona vaccination, side effects and natural vaccination reactions such as headaches and body aches, tiredness or fever can occur. We’ll tell you what the bad brother of the placebo effect has to do with it and how you can prevent the so-called nocebo effect.

Nocebo effect: The negative placebo effect

The term nocebo could suggest that this is simply a matter of the lack of an effect. However, the origin of the word nocebo has nothing to do with the English “no”. Like placebo (“I will please”), it comes from Latin and means “I will harm” . This refers to health problems or negative effects that occur although the person concerned has not been administered any harmful ingredients or active ingredients. She was only informed that taking a pill could cause side effects and unpleasant symptoms  .

The nocebo effect can be observed regularly in studies in which people who are given an inactive pill still suffer from the side effects that they were made aware of before taking them. Similar to the placebo effect, the nocebo effect occurs in about 20 percent of all cases. Psychosomatic symptoms such as headaches or nausea occur most frequently as a result of the nocebo effect. The respective  price of the drugs or placebos also seems to have an influence on this: both positive and negative effects are more likely to occur if the test participant or patient believes that the drug administered is expensive .

The cause  of the nocebo and placebo effects lies in the human psyche and goes back to strong expectations or conditioning. However, the exact mechanism is still unclear, since messenger substances are also released in connection with the nocebo effect, i.e. a physical reaction takes place.

Corona vaccination: How to prevent the nocebo effect

Similar to medication, there are a number of possible side effects or vaccination reactions that can occur with the corona vaccination. Pain at the injection site , headache and body aches, fatigue, fever and chills are among the most common side effects of all corona vaccines . These are of course mentioned in informational documents and in a doctor’s consultation before the corona vaccination, so that the person to be vaccinated can get an idea of ​​the possible dangers and weigh them up against the benefits.

However, through the thorough education and reading about possible side effects as a result of the corona vaccination , some of the vaccination reactions can also be caused by the nocebo effect. Now the question arises whether and how you can protect yourself from it. In order for the patients to remain responsible and be able to make an informed decision, the thorough information should of course continue to take place. However, it can help to additionally educate the patient about the nocebo effect. Just knowing about the placebo and nocebo effects can reduce their occurrence.At the same time, it can help to take away the patient’s anxiety and curb exaggerated negative expectations. If a side effect or vaccination reaction only occurs very rarely, e.g. itching at the injection site, which only occurs in about 1 percent of all cases after corona vaccinations, it should be emphasized that this does not occur in 99 percent of cases. This reduces the patient’s negative expectations.

So, by reading this article and educating yourself about the nocebo effect, you’ve already reduced your chances of succumbing to the effect.

Crystal Waston MD

Crystal Waston has a degree in Cross Media Production and Publishing. At vital.de she gives everyday tips and deals with topics related to women's health, sport, and nutrition.

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