*  Analysis

   Placebo Effect
   Sheldon: Do you believe in the placebo effect?
   Amy: Of course I do. There have been many studies proving its validity.
   Sheldon: Great. Now, this may look like a Tic Tac, but it is really a
--
   -- The Big Bang Theory

   The placebo effect is where a patient thinks that a 'medicine' is
   healing them, even though it doesn't have an actual medical effect. The
   most common use is in drug trials, in which a control group is given a
   placebo, to compare the effects in case the drug actually is only
   effective due to the placebo effect, or is even worse.

   One difference between fiction and reality is that, unlike in fiction,
   real placebos often continue to have an effect even if the user finds
   out it's a placebo - the action of taking the "drug" is usually enough
   to fool the body.

--
       Anime and Manga
     * One chapter of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei has a field day with this
       trope, including Nozomu taking a placebo drug and breaking out in
       hives from the percieved side effects, Stalker with a Crush Matoi
       forcing Nozomu to take a fake Love Pill, only for the effect to
--
       Literature
     * In It, it is revealed that Eddie Kaspbrak's asthma is
       psychosomatic, and his medication is a placebo.
     * Inverted by Captain Underpants, who thinks his powers are
       neutralized if he's sprayed with spray starch.
--
            episode in his regular uniform while everyone else is wearing
            undershirts.
     * The Suite Life on Deck: Bailey uses a placebo to raise London's
       intelligence. Subverted in that after realizing that it's a
       placebo, London returns to normal. Then she takes another placebo.
     * On The Big Bang Theory, Raj is unable to talk to women unless he's
       drunk. In "The Terminator Decoupling," the guys are on a train when
--
       certain that Adam and Grant weren't subconsciously skewing the test
       results, Jamie gave each of them an "over-the-counter medicine"
       that was actually a vitamin pill. (Grant fell for the placebo, but
       Adam got sick just as fast as in the other tests.)
     * In The Next Mutation, the Turtles have a recurring team of foes
       that once used a magic formula to enhance their abilities. The
       effect ended when the turtles pointed out the 'magic' was just a
       placebo.
     * Used when NewsRadio parodied Flowers for Algernon. Joe makes
       Matthew a "Smart Drink", which works until Matthew gets smart
--

       Western Animation
     * Dogbert has a placebo that works even when the user knows it's a
       placebo.
          + That, and the people he's giving them to are usually too
            stupid to realize what a placebo is.
     * The Simpsons: The Crazy Cat Lady once regained her sanity thanks to
       a medication but lost it when she learned it was a placebo.
     * In the Handy Manny segment "Fearless Rusty", Lovable Coward Rusty
       is sprinkled with "magic dust" by a local magician, who claimed it
--
       9-year old girl was able to do it, as seen here [external_link.gif]
       .
     * Homeopathy may fool many people due to the placebo effect, despite
       the fact that it would have to utterly violate some of the most
       basic laws of physics and chemistry in order to work.