Nocebo effect

The Guardian has this article about the winner of the Wellcome science writing prize, which is about the Nocebo effect. This is a sort of reverse brain hacking, or brain hacking to make yourself worse off. If placebo are harmless substances that actually heal because you believe they will make you better, nocebos are harmless substances/situations/etc that cause actual harm to your health because you believe they will harm you. It’s worthwhile reading. Take a look.