The Incredible, Harmful Power of Negative Thinking

Real physical symptoms are spawned by the “nocebo effect,” rooted in fear and anxiety over what might happen

Robert Roy Britt
Wise & Well
Published in
8 min readApr 3, 2024

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Back during the pandemic, researchers quizzed 315 people on their fears and expectations about the Covid vaccine just moments before they got one, then a day later asked them about any adverse effects. People who expected adverse effects from the shot were more likely to experience those effects.

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Robert Roy Britt
Wise & Well

Editor of Aha! and Wise & Well on Medium + the Writer's Guide at writersguide.substack.com. Author of Make Sleep Your Superpower: amazon.com/dp/B0BJBYFQCB