> This article is built upon a questionable definition of the placebo effect. Debatably, it’s a straw man argument that sidesteps the complexities of placebo re

> This article is built upon a questionable definition of the placebo effect. Debatably, it’s a straw man argument that sidesteps the complexities of placebo response by using an oversimplification that is easier to dismiss. > The placebo effect gets much more complicated in the context of mental health. Anti-depressant studies are the classic example, with placebo often performing close to (but not as well) as powerful SSRIs The article correctly points to distinction between the placebo effect (psychosomatic effects of administering a placebo) and results of placebo-arm in clinical trials (which are just summary of multiple effects, including placebo effect itself, regression to the mean and reporting bias). Many effects that happen in placebo-arm of clinical trials are unrelated to administering placebo itself and would happen even if no placebo is administered (e.g. regression to the mean). But not administering placebo would break blinding, so it is hard to distinguish these effect.