Increased self-confidence and concentration, stress relief and reaction to IP effect
calmness, anxiety
SAID
The IP participants reported increased self-confidence and concentration as well as decreased stress as beneficial effects during the 3-week intervention phase. Participants who reported an increase in self-confidence experienced more optimism or could draw strength and courage and thus felt supported through the pill. Others reported a feeling of security and saw the intervention similarly to an anchor that prevented the emergence of more negative feelings:"So, it felt less that it had an effect, but more that it actually prevented other things from being triggered. […], that it just didn’t develop as strongly. So, because the stress with me is rather high, the closer the exam comes. And the feeling didn’t really come at all." (IP; Subject 13)Stress relief was among the most prominent positive IP effects leading to increased relaxation and calmness, as well as a reduction of anxiety and stress. This was felt on a psychological (e.g., less nervous thoughts) and a physical level (e.g., general relaxation and loosening, reduction of shaking). At the same time, an increase in concentration during the learning phase was reported. Here, clearer thoughts, wakefulness, better focus, and increased inner calmness were described by roughly half the participants. The same kind of effects were mentioned in the OLP group.Besides the mention of the beneficial effects, eight participants of the IP group were positively surprised, astonished, or impressed by those effects. These reactions were usually connected to the initial skepticism and novelty of the intervention and the unfamiliar realization that the mind can have such an effect on the body:“So that placebos work, I already knew that before. But I never tried it myself, because I never took placebos myself and then I was positively surprised that it can work so strongly, that what the mind–stupidly said–can simply do.” (IP; Subject 16)