<p>If one had sufficient control of the correct institutions, how difficult would it be to create a "pandemic" that is simply a result of the nocebo effect? In other words, can the nocebo effect have such far-flung consequences as described below?</p>

<p>For example (this may not be completely accurate, just something from a biology noob), let's assume that one entity controlled all sample testing locations and decided to return a result for 90% of people with the flu or some common disease saying that have Virus. Let us also assume that there is a paper published about VirusX saying that it has CommonDisease-esque symptoms but more serious and deadlier. Would it be possible to enough people display the nocebo symptoms that it becomes newsworthy, causing people to unexpectedly come down with "VirusX" even though this is just the nocebo effect?</p>

<p>Just to clarify, I do not think Covid-19 is fake. For anyone who does, I would highly recommend a visit to <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the CDC's</a> or <a href="https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the WHO's</a> website to convince yourself otherwise. This is simply a thought experiment to help better understand the implications of the nocebo effect.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-24T20:29:12.740Z
Welcome to psych.SE.  I am concerned that this question may be soliciting opinion-based answers, which is discouraged on this forum.  If it can be modified so as to ask a question that can be answered with available evidence from experiments that can reasonably and ethically have been conducted, then that would be better.  For example, a question about the known power of the nocebo effect.
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-24T22:53:56.450Z
@ArnonWeinberg I mean to ask about the known power of the nocebo effect; I'm trying to ask it it has a certain level of power based on conducted experiments. How would I phrase this question (sorry, english isn't my first language)
qag54938bcaoo
<social-psychology><placebo>
Nocebo Viral Epidemic
qag54938bcaoo
# Nocebo Viral Epidemic

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-21)

If one had sufficient control of the correct institutions, how difficult would it be to create a "pandemic" that is simply a result of the nocebo effect? In other words, can the nocebo effect have such far-flung consequences as described below?

For example (this may not be completely accurate, just something from a biology noob), let's assume that one entity controlled all sample testing locations and decided to return a result for 90% of people with the flu or some common disease saying that have Virus. Let us also assume that there is a paper published about VirusX saying that it has CommonDisease-esque symptoms but more serious and deadlier. Would it be possible to enough people display the nocebo symptoms that it becomes newsworthy, causing people to unexpectedly come down with "VirusX" even though this is just the nocebo effect?

Just to clarify, I do not think Covid-19 is fake. For anyone who does, I would highly recommend a visit to [the CDC's](https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html) or [the WHO's](https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019) website to convince yourself otherwise. This is simply a thought experiment to help better understand the implications of the nocebo effect.

**Tags:** social-psychology, placebo

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Welcome to psych.SE.  I am concerned that this question may be soliciting opinion-based answers, which is discouraged on this forum.  If it can be modified so as to ask a question that can be answered with available evidence from experiments that can reasonably and ethically have been conducted, then that would be better.  For example, a question about the known power of the nocebo effect.  
> **username_0**: @ArnonWeinberg I mean to ask about the known power of the nocebo effect; I'm trying to ask it it has a certain level of power based on conducted experiments. How would I phrase this question (sorry, english isn't my first language)  

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