Derren Brown's Fear or Faith: Placebo

OK So like probably many of you, I watched Derren Brown's show last night and I was really amazed at the results. In the first part, people were able to get over their fears and phobias by simply taking a drug which they believed to be effective in diminishing fear. The large majority completely overcame whatever it was they were trying to control and it was astounding.

Fair enough, getting over your fears is definitely something that can be humanely achieved through willpower and without the need for a placebo, but the next part was what did it for me. Another group of people were given the same 'drug' and told that it would cure their allergies like hay fever, allergic to horses and even serious ones like dermatitis. Surprisingly the 'drug' worked and even the guy with severe case of dermatitis became cured and has shown no signs of it returning.

To me, this highlights the potential power of the mind that's lying dormant, as in the case of the allergies, I think that the general scientific consensus is that they're genetic or something that the individual has no control over, much less being able to 'get rid of it' through willpower alone.

What are your thoughts on the this?

Reply 1

Dukeofwembley

i haven't seen it myself but is it a scientific controlled study

Reply 2

Marc707

Original post by Dukeofwembley

i haven't seen it myself but is it a scientific controlled study

Well the progress of the people is done on camera and the allergies along with smokers' desire to smoke disappear almost instantaneously.

There are probably people who will say theyre actors, but I dont think this is true. For this program especially and for all the ones he's done across his career, he's needed an enormous amount of people and if all of them were actors it would not be kept quiet. Also, I dont think Derren Brown would even risk it, knowing it would mean the instant end to his career.

Reply 3

zaliack

I really couldn't be bothered watching it last night. Placebo is the most important effect in the pharmaceutical industry, and the effects of it are widely known. I watch Derren because he usually does stuff which are extraordinary, yet this just seems like a basic experiment which happens every day.

Reply 4

justanotherposter

Really not convinced, whilst I don't believe they were actors, I don't think the placebo was quite as effective as Derren would have you believe:
1) The timid guy in both of the 'fights' was backed up by someone, in the first argument the cameraman was more well built than the 'drunk,' in the pub his mates were stuck, the guy who was doing the pub quiz sign up sheets seemed to be on the timid kid's side, and seeing as his mates were in trouble he probably felt he had no alternative.

2) The heights guy, the placebo probably did help him get over his fear of bridges, however at the end he was on a harness, I'm also scared of heights, however I've done Go Ape before, because whilst I was still pretty nervous the whole way through, I knew the harness was stopping me from dying, the guy is hardly going to say 'can someone take the harness off this feels like cheating,' because then he'd have to face his fear head on, and he's just been told the magic pill doesn't actually exist.

3) The smokers, they only said what was happening a month after, quite a lot of people can quit for a couple of months, I'd be interested to see how they were doing a year from now.

4) The intelligence people never got mentioned again, I'm assuming that the one person who realised it was a placebo told everyone else in the group so they had to void that group, although I have a theory that someone deliberately let slip to them it was a placebo, to make the experiment seem more realistic.

5) The allergy group, it is possible a placebo 'cured' them, it is well documented placebos can make people think they are getting better, that's why when new drugs are tested they always give 50% of the test group a placebo, to make sure it's actually the drug having the effect.

6) The singing person, it wouldn't surprise me if Derren deliberately made her fail the first time, we heard nothing about how much warning she was given before she started busking, based on how badly she sang in comparison to the end I would guess less than 24 hours, without mentally prepping herself she didn't really have a chance. The same could probably be said of the stage audition. In contrast she was given 'weeks' to prepare her song at the end, and whilst Derren said he hadn't told her what she would be doing, having already been thrown into 2 situations she could probably guess at what was coming, and not wanting to fail for a third time probably would have been mentally prepping herself, as well as getting practice time on the song so that she didn't end up sounding horrible again.

Reply 5

Kage

I found it really interesting. Just finished watching now, and I agree with what justanotherposter is saying, but at the same time, placebos have been documented to have worked.

You couldn't though take a placebo knowing its a placebo before taking it, which is a shame :tongue:

"Yes, these smarties will cure my social anxiety for sure!"

I think the next episode will be an interesting one, and one that will probably cause some anger?
The biggest placebo of them all, being god?
I don't believe, and honestly think religion is based on what Derren is talking about, but what do believers think to what is going to happen in the next programme?

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

lilahnurave

Original post by Kage

I think I read he is an ex evangelical christian, "happy clappy" as he called it. So will be interesting to see his take on it, having been "one of them" for quite a large portion of his earlier life

Reply 7

TheMagicRat

It was a demonstration of something that quite a lot of people believe works anyway, so I don't understand the need for the show. Also, the quick transformation of a couple of them, particularly the guy that was scared of heights, was a little suspect.

Derren Brown really is great at what he does. I watch his shows and end up disappointed with what I have seen but when his next show is on I can't help but watch. He has a hold over me.