Nocebo: fear and expectation can cause real illness—and even death
A deep dive into the nocebo effect—the mind's 'evil twin' of the placebo—showing how expectations of danger (like fentanyl exposure) can trigger real, sometimes deadly symptoms, as illustrated by police cases and medical misdirections; psychologist Helen Pilcher argues that media, warnings, and online chatter can generate illness through psychosomatic processes, underscoring the need to seek real medical advice rather than self-diagnosing.
