Placebo Effect on Mentally Ill Teenagers

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Placebo in Depressed Teenagers
Placebo and Anxiety
Placebo in Stress Management
Placebo Effects on Legal and Ethical Aspects
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Placebo is a mechanism adopted in a clinical setup to conduct treatment. It is the form of treatment whose appearance seems real. However, it is designed to have comparatively zero therapeutic benefits for the patients. The major reason for using a placebo is to assess the effectiveness of the treatment administered to the patients. It is associated with grouping individuals into two different categories where the first category receives the actual drug. In contrast, the second receives an inactive drug known as a placebo. On the other side placebo effect is the physical improvement in recovery or appearance of a patient’s mental health following administration of placebo treatment. Several effects have been associated with placebos. This paper will mainly analyze how the placebo effect impacts mentally ill teenagers.

Research Question: What effects does placebo have on mentally ill teenagers?

Placebo in Depressed Teenagers

Placebo strongly affects depressed teenagers; it positively correlates with brain changes. Arguably, administration entails shots or pills with no medicinal values (Scott et al., 2022). Therefore, individuals under this form of medication have been perceived to indicate significant changes in how they respond to the subsequent treatment. For instance, scientists’ use of placebo has been categorized as a control mechanism adapted to evaluate teenagers’ perceptions and treatment expectations. Studying placebo has enhanced patients’ recovery, especially from highly critical mental illnesses. A study by Olson et al. (2021) identified key attributes and benefits of promoting placebo trials within the health sector. It was observed to have a positive impact on eth patient’s ability to cope with the disorder while enhancing the process of recovery. Furthermore, placebo has attained significant uses in most health matters concerning teenagers. Its use among depressed teens has improved symptoms even after being fully aware of the dummy elements associated with the treatment.

Similarly, analysis by highly capable researchers adopted a 35 sample population comprising individuals with major cases of depression. In this study, participants were assigned randomized placebo pills with a description of fast-acting antidepressants after a weekly observation (Kessing et al., 2021). Later, participants were swapped. At the halt of the medication, individuals were subjected to a PET Brain scan where the group was offered doses of saline. The inactive placebo group did not receive any infusion during the experiment. Purposefully, the test aimed at monitoring respective acute impacts associated with an active placebo towards an individual’s brain functionality.

The study’s second phase entailed the subjection of all participants to ten-week antidepressant doses, after which depression symptoms were observed (Schmitz et al., 2019). According to the findings, a comparable reduction in depression was observed on the selected sample that formed the study’s target population (Schmitz et al., 2019). However, a considerate decline in depression was mainly manifested by individuals who were too active placebo. Additionally, there exists a difference for the participants who took an inactive placebo. Considerably, an active placebo was highly linked to a reduction in depression (Peciña et al., 2021).

Moreover, the reduction in depression was highly attributed to enhancement within the receptor brain activity. This resulted from an increase in the brain’s ability to effectively manage emotions and stress, which was a vital function of the brain. Hence, an increase in the u-opioid was highly relatable to the positive response to the antidepressant medication administered. Therefore, a conclusion was drawn that mentally ill teenagers were responsive to the intentions to treat their underlying depression and could often perform better in the event of administration of psychotherapies during the medication process. As a result, a manifestation of effectiveness associated with placebo distinguished its importance.

Placebo and Anxiety

Anxiety is a form of psychological distress disorder; it acts as a major contributor to mental illness among teenagers. Adopting a placebo has significantly resulted in the effect associated with a decline in anxiety symptoms. Nevertheless, placebo has positively been associated with improving teenage anxiety disorder. For instance, a study was conducted to evaluate the predictors of pills and characterize the impacts of placebo in response to the anxiety amongst the teenagers (Strawn et al., 2018). The study adopted a multimodal and randomized controlled trial, which was mainly used to examine the importance of cognitive-behavioural therapy. Additionally, vital aspects such as sertraline and placebo for the medication of separation were evaluated within the study.

Moreover, generalized and socialized concepts of anxiety disorders were evaluated. The study findings revealed a positive relationship between the anxiety symptoms, medication expectations, separation of anxiety disorders, and the placebo pill response (Gosch & Norris, 2021). For instance, a higher probability of placebo-related response during the treatment was observed. Such indications implied that placebo treatment was highly effective in addressing major elements of existence. As a result, a conclusion implied that a pill placebo contributed to reducing the teenager’s anxiety during the early stages of treatment. Correspondingly, teenagers’ expectations and clinical elements adopted during the administration of placebo treatment were instrumental predictors of anxiety reduction. Thus, the adoption of probabilistic mechanisms highly enhanced the perception and prediction of pill placebo response among mentally ill teenagers.

Placebo in Stress Management

Recently, the healthcare system has been overburdened by the challenges aligned with mental illness. Over the past few years’ healthcare has struggled to check related mental ailments. Fortunately, introducing a placebo trial test has resulted in reasonable improvement in stress handling within hospitals. However, a placebo has significantly facilitated reducing stress on mentally ill teenagers. Placebo research aimed to instigate using a dummy as a mechanism to check the response to the health-related condition. Several developments have prompted the emergence of take-home placebo.

Take-home placebo entails the trial testing performed on individuals who are non-patients. This procedure targets the non-patient population and is often administered in personal homes. For instance, a study by (Eskandarzadeh et al., 2021) focused on evaluating the attributes of take-home placebo treatment, which was adopted to relieve stress on a short-term basis. The study adopted a unique population that encompassed non-patient individuals. Selectively, a sample size of 77 respondents was randomly adopted. It was identifiable as individuals under either oxytocin medication or serotonin.

In this study, the variables included two treatment groups, each of which was rendered with an anti-stress prescription which also formed the placebo. Additionally, the sample took into consideration the wait-list control group. Arguably, the place ably required individuals to self-administer for three consecutive days and later perform an online measure Kwon as a perceived stress scale. Non-patient individuals were required to give their views before administering a placebo and after the three-day treatment and control period.

The study revealed that both serotine and oxytocin management was highly effective in reducing stress amongst participants. Comparatively, oxytocin was more effective in managing stress than serotine (Menna et al., 2019). However, both elements were evaluated to be instrumental in depression management. Being a component of stress management of depression was critical for reducing stress. Considerably, the repercussion attributed to stress was mainly associated with the occurrence of depression. Hence, the control home-placebo revealed the efficacy of the controls. Following the analysis of the findings, a conclusion was drawn that the placebo setting was highly applicable in an individual’s real-life setting to facilitate managing stress and depression. As earlier discussed, depression is a profound element that highly contributes to mental illness; effective management contributes to a patient’s recovery. Furthermore, the study postulated that a home-based placebo was an instrumental mechanism that initiated controlling of psychological distress among individuals. As a result, the study provided recommendations to the health practitioners to adopt a take-home placebo as a system to handle mental disorders in outpatients.

Placebo Effects on Legal and Ethical Aspects

Furthermore, another diverging study focused on analyzing placebo effects on mentally ill teenagers, particularly with across on unique factors such as legal and ethical limitations that majorly hindered students’ ability to be included in experimental trials. This study aimed to analyze teenagers’ responses to the assent of the intensity of placebo responses between teenagers and assessment of the moderators and mediators of placebo responses (Enck & Klosterhalfen, 2019). Purposefully, the study focused on a wider view of critical concepts which impacted the relationship between teenagers and placebo. Considerably, the effects associated with the implication of the existing relationship in the manner placebo was administered highly motivated occurrence of this study. Legal aspects were evaluated to establish their existence and contributions to the placebo effects amongst mentally ill teenagers (Weik et al., 2021). For instance, the findings revealed that existing rules that control placebo trials lacked clarity. Such aspects resulted in uncertainties, particularly in the teenager’s perception and responses to the placebo treatment.

The legalities in place were found not to conform to medical standards, which advocated for adopting a highly competitive population segment for a clinical trial. The findings identified a lack of ethical consideration, particularly in the event of teenagers’ participation in trials without their consent (Enck & Klosterhalfen, 2019). Furthermore, considering the attached privacy issues, a study found a desire to maintain participants’ privacy. The study suggested that physical contact was instrumental in enhancing the sustainable occurrence of placebo tests and stimulating positive outcomes.

Conclusion

Finally, a placebo trial plays a major role in imitating the treatment and handling of patients, respectively. Based on the analysis provided, Placebo effects have significantly been found to be correlated with positive clinical outcomes. As a result, the promotion of the administrative mechanism of placebo trials stands out as a key requirement for the health sector. However, consideration should be taken to minimize uncertainties resulting from the adoption, particularly in protecting teenagers’ privacy, as seen in the final study. For instance, teenage individuals are comparatively underage with consent-related challenges. To effectively promote their safety, measures should be implemented within health care. Lastly, effective oversight should be conducted on best practices to optimize the entire process of placebo in terms of health-related outcomes such as patient recovery. Placebo effects among teenagers should be treated as a matter of urgent concern.

References

Enck, P., & Klosterhalfen, S. (2019). Placebos and the Placebo Effect in Drug Trials.Concepts and Principles of Pharmacology, 399–431. Web.

Eskandarzadeh, S., Effatpanah, M., Khosravi-Darani, K., Askari, R., Hosseini, A. F., Reisian, M., & Jazayeri, S. (2019). Efficacy of a multispecies probiotic as adjunctive therapy in generalized anxiety disorder: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Nutritional Neuroscience, 24(2), 102–108. Web.

Gosch, E. A., & Norris, L. A. (2021). An Empirically Supported Treatment for Anxiety in Youth. Flexibility within Fidelity: Breathing Life into a Psychological Treatment Manual, 175.

Kessing, L. V., González-Pinto, A., Fagiolini, A., Bechdolf, A., Reif, A., Yildiz, A., Etain, B., Henry, C., Severus, E., Reininghaus, E. Z., Morken, G., Goodwin, G. M., Scott, J., Geddes, J. R., Rietschel, M., Landén, M., Manchia, M., Bauer, M., Martinez-Cengotitabengoa, M., Vieta, E. (2021). DSM-5 and ICD-11 criteria for bipolar disorder: Implications for the prevalence of bipolar disorder and validity of the diagnosis – A narrative review from the ECNP bipolar disorders network. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 47, 54–61. Web.

Olson, J. A., Lifshitz, M., Raz, A., & Veissière, S. P. L. (2021). Super Placebos: A Feasibility Study Combining Contextual Factors to Promote Placebo Effects.Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12. Web.

Peciña, M., Dombrovski, Y., Price, R., & Karim, T.H. (2021). Understanding the Neurocomputational Mechanisms of Antidepressant Placebo Effects.Journal of Psychiatry and Brain Science. Web.

Schmitz, J., Müller, M., Stork, J., Eichler, I., Zöllner, C., Flor, H., & Klinger, R. (2019). Positive Treatment Expectancies Reduce Clinical Pain and Perceived Limitations in Movement Ability Despite Increased Experimental Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial on Sham Opioid Infusion in Patients with Chronic Back Pain. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 88(4), 203–214. Web.

Scott, J., Etain, B., Grierson, A., Naismith, S., Scott, E., & Hickie, I. (2022). A network analysis of rest-activity rhythms in young people with emerging bipolar disorders.Journal of Affective Disorders, 305, 220–226. Web.

Strawn, J. R., Mills, J. A., Sauley, B. A., & Welge, J. A. (2018). The Impact of Antidepressant Dose and Class on Treatment Response in Pediatric Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 57(4), 235–244.e2. Web.

Weik, E., Neuenschwander, R., Jensen, K., Oberlander, T. F., & Tipper, C. (2021). Placebo and nocebo effects in youth: Subjective thermal discomfort can be modulated by a conditioning paradigm utilizing mental states of low and high self-efficacy. British Journal of Pain, 16(1), 60–70. Web.

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