How placebo can bring magic to everyday life with children

My younger daughter is six years old when I wake her up in the morning and discover a bit of glitter on her eyelids. «Did you have a bad dream?» I ask. She nods. On her bedside table is a small jar filled with glittering powder. It keeps nightmares and monsters away. Of course, she can call us at any time during the night. This time, however, she has helped herself with a pinch of «stardust». You can't buy stardust in any pharmacy or shop, and yet it works wonders.

From travelling doctor to charlatan

Have we discovered a new cure? Or are we in the realm of quacks? Incidentally, the term «quack» comes from the Middle Ages. «Quack» is probably derived from the Middle Dutch word «quacken», which means to chat or boast. It described the offering of goods or services for sale. «Salver» refers to medicinal or supposedly healing ointments, which quacks often sold.

Placebos also work when patients know that there is no active ingredient in them.

They travelled as healers or travelling doctors, but usually lacked formal medical training. They loudly advertised their remedies at markets or in villages. With the scientific progress of medicine, stricter rules for medical practices emerged. The meaning of the term «quack» changed. It became synonymous with charlatans or bunglers who sold dubious or ineffective remedies in order to enrich themselves from the despair of sick people.

Placebo: the power of placebo drugs

This does not mean that a little «quacking» around the ointment is fundamentally bad. One area of medicine that has become increasingly important in recent decades is placebo research. «Placebo» is the name given to a dummy drug. The placebo effect describes the positive effect of a treatment on health, which is achieved simply by believing in it.

Our expectations of a treatment method influence the course of an illness. This happens with both positive and negative feelings, for example the fear of side effects. In contrast to the positive effect of the placebo effect, with the nocebo effect the expectation of negative consequences alone ensures that we actually feel them. Even in conventional medicine, it plays a role who administers drugs and in what form. An injection has a stronger effect when administered by a doctor than when administered by a carer. Red tablets are more potent than white ones, capsules help better than tablets.

Placebos have been researched particularly intensively for physical pain and gastrointestinal complaints. They are particularly effective for conditions that are closely related to the psyche. It was originally assumed that placebos only work when patients believe they are receiving a real medication. However, more recent studies show that placebos also work when patients know that there is no active ingredient in them.

Remedies that are good for the soul

What does all this have to do with «stardust»? Stardust is just glitter, but a pinch of it gave my child a calmer night - without any side effects. It worked particularly well because it was kept in a special tin and we had woven a nice story around it.

Many tried and tested home remedies are used in everyday family life, which do not always fulfil the strict requirements of a gold standard double-blind test. Sometimes there is hardly any evidence of effectiveness beyond the placebo effect.

The sugus in the dwarf nests tasted much better than ordinary ones. Even though we knew that our grandmother had put them in there.

However, a warm curd compress for bronchitis or vinegar socks for high fever are associated with care and attention. This makes being ill more bearable. It is also good to rub some warming thyme oil on the chest and wear a silk scarf for sore throats and coughs. The knowledge of such remedies has often been passed down through generations or recommended to us by someone we particularly trust. The positive relationship plays an important role in the healing process.

The secret of the «Zwergennestli»

For me, the placebo effect goes beyond physical health. As a child, we used to build «gnome's nests» in our grandmother 's garden. We made little circles out of pine cones and decorated them with moss and flowers. At some point we came back and found sugus (coloured chewy sweets) inside. The dwarves had left them for us. Of course, we all knew that our grandmother had secretly put them in there. However, these sweets tasted much more delicious and made us happier than if we had just been given them.

Naturally, I also introduced my children to the secret of the «dwarf nests». Even today, the lovely gnomes still reward people who build a pretty nest for them with little treasures. Try it out - it's not just the children who enjoy it.

Placebo in the Advent season

In the western world, where religion is playing an ever smaller role, there is sometimes a lack of special stories, traditions and rituals that brighten up everyday life and create meaning.

The Christmas season in particular opens up access to old stories and customs. Atheists and non-Christians can also celebrate the festival of lights, which has its origins in antiquity. Every family has its own traditions. The annual decorations, baked goods, lights and spices appeal to all the senses. They give the Advent season its special meaning.

My daughters, now aged 14 and 16, still clean their shoes every year on the evening before 6 December and put them outside the door with a sweet for Father Christmas and a carrot for the donkey. Every year, we parents fill the shoes with nuts and chocolate. We always leave a few crumbs and take a bite-sized chunk out of the carrot as proof of the night-time visit. The whole family rejoices together at the magic that spreads to everyone in the morning.

A little magic makes everyday life easier

My daughters haven't needed the stardust for a long time. They were a little disappointed when they found out that there were no real stars in it, they tell me. But they don't hold it against us.

Understand me correctly: it's not about pulling the wool over children's eyes and wrapping them around your finger with tall tales. The homesickness pill at camp works even if the child knows it's just a sweet.

It's about more lightness, playfulness and magic in family life. At the latest when the last lights on the Christmas tree have gone out and everyday life begins again, we can make good use of them.