In the small town of Watford City, North Dakota (population 1,744), the local pharmacy has a cure for kids that are afraid of the dark.
The bottle looks like any other drug (more or less), and comes with this simple indication:
Spray around the room at night before bed, repeat if necessary.
The bottle is good for 120 sprays, and has proven to be quite effective over the years – kids often come back for more. So what do you think, is this useful, does it have its place?
Before you answer that, consider that on a larger scale, placebo has been used with consistently good results in several areas. For example, half of all German doctors have prescribed placebos at one point in their careers, and the technique was pretty successful. 59% of patients who had been suffering from an upset stomach were cured with placebos, and in a third of the cases, it was just as good as antidepressants, without any negative side effects. I don’t know about you, but if I’m visiting Watford City, I’m gonna get one of those Monster Sprays!
Pseudoscience is threatening our society.