Bad is more powerful than good: the nocebo response in medical consultations
Bad is more powerful than good: the nocebo response in medical consultations
Although there has been a lot of research looking at the placebo response, nocebo responses in the healthcare setting have been largely overlooked. This article explores the potential role of negative patient–doctor communication in facilitating nocebo responses in the medical consultation. We suggest that invalidation, that is, communicating a lack of understanding and acceptance to the patient (albeit unintentionally), is a key factor in understanding the nocebo response. This article reviews evidence from the experimental and healthcare setting, which suggests that the negative effects of invalidation may be stronger than we think.
communicating understanding, doctor–patient interaction, health communication, invalidation, nocebo response, placebo response, validation
Greville-Harris, M.L.
15fdf3ab-d129-4191-bfd4-9c14c910bfef
Dieppe, P.
293f54b1-2f1a-4dd1-ad56-88ab75dab64e
February 2015
Greville-Harris, M.L.
15fdf3ab-d129-4191-bfd4-9c14c910bfef
Dieppe, P.
293f54b1-2f1a-4dd1-ad56-88ab75dab64e
Greville-Harris, M.L. and Dieppe, P.
(2015)
Bad is more powerful than good: the nocebo response in medical consultations.
The American Journal of Medicine, 128 (2).
(doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.08.031).
Abstract
Although there has been a lot of research looking at the placebo response, nocebo responses in the healthcare setting have been largely overlooked. This article explores the potential role of negative patient–doctor communication in facilitating nocebo responses in the medical consultation. We suggest that invalidation, that is, communicating a lack of understanding and acceptance to the patient (albeit unintentionally), is a key factor in understanding the nocebo response. This article reviews evidence from the experimental and healthcare setting, which suggests that the negative effects of invalidation may be stronger than we think.
Text
__soton.ac.uk_ude_personalfiles_users_mlgh2f13_mydesktop_papers_Greville-Harris & Dieppe 2015.pdf
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 September 2014
Published date: February 2015
Keywords:
communicating understanding, doctor–patient interaction, health communication, invalidation, nocebo response, placebo response, validation
Organisations:
Psychology
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 375261
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/375261
ISSN: 0002-9343
PURE UUID: eda354e7-a726-4c9a-9c07-7ea1f219b6b6
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 18 Mar 2015 15:30
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 19:23
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
M.L. Greville-Harris
Author:
P. Dieppe
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics