A proven method to quickly boost our mood: an alcoholic drink. At least, that’s what many people believe. But is it really so effective?
This is the question a study conducted in Australia sought to answer. The researchers found that soda can work just like a glass of wine or beer to help you feel better—if you believe that it contains alcohol!
People who regularly boost their mood with an alcoholic drink participated in the study, which started with making them feel less good. The researchers did this by thoroughly questioning them about what it was like for them feeling bad or depressed.
Half of the participants were then offered a large portion of strong cocktails. The other half consumed a drink that tasted and looked like an alcoholic drink, but barely contained alcohol.
After 40 minutes, people in both groups reported that their mood improved significantly. So, the test showed that a mood-boosting effect also can occur when we just BELIEVE that we are drinking alcohol.
Alcohol can make us feel temporarily relaxed or numb difficult feelings for a while. Today we know that alcohol affects brain function. Its relaxing, exhilarating effect is partly because it triggers the production of endorphin happiness hormones.
But it seems that “placebo alcohol” is enough to improve our mood. So why poison ourselves? Especially knowing that when the effects of the alcohol wear off, you can feel worse than you did before.
A similar placebo effect has already been shown for many drugs. For example, Parkinson patients tremble less when they scrape a placebo pill – if thinking it was real!
Source: Australian Psychologist December 2009
