TO THE STUDY OF THE MECHANISM OF TRIGGERING THE PLACEBO EFFECT: PLACEBO AND AUTO-SUGGESTION

The current state of research on the placebo effect is considered. The task is set to develop the idea of the role of positive expectation in the mechanism of placebo implementation. A number of assumptions concerning the nature of placebo and approaches to its study are put forward. Consideration of the effect in its linear structure can contribute to the study of the nature of the placebo. It is useful to understand this phenomenon as consisting of a stage of psychological triggering and a stage of psychosomatic and physiological implementation. In turn, it is useful to consider the first of them as consisting of a preliminary stage of forming a positive (or negative – with nocebo) expectation, confidence in a certain effect of a placebo agent, and the stage of actually triggering a placebo. When implementing the placebo effect, the active expectation of a certain internal process and its result activates the mechanism of autosuggestion, within which the expected is realized. The placebo is triggered by the implementation of one of the types of autosuggestion process, which does not presuppose any purposeful actions of the subject, for example, orders addressed to the unconscious. A significant part of the studies of the placebo effect nature can be carried out within the framework of the study of the mechani sms and patterns of thi s way of autosuggestion, which is triggered by the confident active expectation of the subject in the onset of certain internal changes. It is clear that such studies can be carried out in contexts other than those of placebo and nocebo implementation, for example, neutral in relation to the physical and emotional state and make their conduct not burdened with ethical problems. Which, of course, can significantly contribute to the intensification of the study of the placebo nature. It is concluded that the proposed concept develops the thesis about the necessary role of positive expectation in the implementation of the placebo effect, explaining the role of expectation in the mechanism of its launch. Understanding the mechanism of the placebo effect as a mechanism for self-suggestion will significantly simplify the conditions for experimental studies of placebo patterns and creates a context for further research.