RT Journal Article
T1 Placebo effects in alternative medical treatments for anxiety: false hope or healing potential?
A1 Escolà-Gascón, Álex
A1 Dagnall, Neil
A1 Drinkwater, Kenneth
A1 Denovan, Abdrew
A1 Benito León, Julián
AB Objective  To investigate whether anxiety reductions attributed to healing crystals reflect placebo responses driven by conditioning and belief-related biases rather than specific therapeutic effects.  Methods    In a randomized, controlled study, 138 adults were classified as believers or nonbelievers in crystal efficacy and assigned to rose quartz (experimental) or a visually matched placebo. Participants followed a standardized 14-day protocol. Anxiety was assessed pre- and post-intervention with the Beck Anxiety Inventory and the Spanish Kuwait University Anxiety Scale. Multilevel analyses of variance (ANOVA) and Bayesian models were used to evaluate main effects, interactions, and evidence for treatment specificity.	    Results	    Anxiety reductions occurred only among believers, regardless of crystal assignment. No differences were detected between groups in primary outcomes, and improvements did not exceed the magnitudes typically associated with placebo responses. Bayesian estimates favored the null hypothesis for specific treatment effects. Preexisting belief strongly predicted perceived efficacy and symptom change, consistent with causal illusions plausibly shaped by conditioning mechanisms. Nonbelievers showed no reliable improvement.	    Conclusion	    Healing crystals did not demonstrate anxiolytic effects beyond those of the placebo. Symptom change was mediated by expectancy and conditioning, particularly in individuals inclined toward intuitive or magical thinking. Although nonspecific, context-dependent factors—such as elements of the therapeutic alliance—may amplify placebo responsiveness in clinical settings, these findings do not support attributing inherent therapeutic value to crystals. Future work should delineate how expectations, clinician-patient rapport, and related variables interact to shape placebo response and how such mechanisms might be ethically leveraged to enhance evidence-based care without promoting pseudoscientific practices.
PB Cambridge University Press
SN 1092-8529
SN 2165-6509
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133047
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/133047
LA eng
NO Escolà-Gascón, Á., Dagnall, N., Drinkwater, K., Denovan, A., & Benito-León, J. (2025). Placebo effects in alternative medical treatments for anxiety: false hope or healing potential?. CNS spectrums, 30(1), e70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852925100515
NO 2025 Acuerdos transformativos CRUE
NO This research was supported, through Prof. Dr. Juli\u00E1n Benito-Le\u00F3n, by the National Institutes of Health (NINDS #R01 NS39422 and R01 NS094607) and the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (grant TED2021-130174B-C33, NETremor, and grant PID2022-138585OB-C33, Resonate). This publication was funded by project TED2021-130174B-C33, supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and the European Union's \"NextGenerationEU\"/PRTR.
DS Docta Complutense
RD 27 mar 2026