Integration of the pill into daily life
Around half of the participants in both groups combined the pill intake with a form of ritualization. This was either an integration into an existing ritual (morning routine, breakfast, etc.), a link with a suitable situation (start of the learning session, break during learning), or simply with drinking a glass of water. The latter was even present in the IP group, where three participants either drank a glass of water or performed swallowing motions when taking their IP, supporting the imagination:“I actually had to make a swallowing motion to make it really go down in my head. Well, you were allowed to do that, and I didn’t take anything else. I had to do something so that I felt that it’s really something real.” (IP; Subject 20)Three out of four IP participants who did not integrate the pill intake into a ritual reported that it might have been helpful to do so. One of them explained that the intervention would have been easier if repeatedly done in the same context, one that is preferably quiet. Another IP participant, who embedded the IP intake within a ritual, reinforced the need for such a ritual:"It’s supposed to be a kind of ritual. If you just swallow a pill, it works for maybe three seconds, or not even, I don’t know. And from my point of view, imagination is something that, if you don’t do it often and practice it, is just […] it needs a calm mood. You can’t just say: ‘Now I’m at the train station and pop this imaginary pill’, it has to be an environment. It takes a lot more time, I think, for you to really feel this effect. […] It needs such a ritual." (IP; Subject 19)Various reasons were conveyed about challenges to integrate the IP into daily life. Also, a few participants sometimes forgot to take their IP. These difficulties were also mentioned in the OLP group. However, the need for cognitive effort while taking the pill was solely emphasized in the IP group.