&gt; At the very least, this study tells us that the mindfulness meditation is a &#x27;more effective&#x27; placebo than the cream.<p>Which leads one to consider - what is a placebo anyway? It&#x27;s a mental state one puts oneself in that improves physically measurable symptoms. That seems indistinguishable to me from meditation. If you think about it, it&#x27;s kind of funny that skeptics like to dismiss impressive sounding treatments as being placebos. A placebo is a pretty impressive phenomenon!<p>If one can reliably create a <i>reliable</i>, powerful treatment that actually works (fixes what you&#x27;re targeting rather rather than symptoms, unless symptoms are what you&#x27;re targeting as in this case) by putting ones self into a mental state, that sounds like a win, even if it does meet the definition of a placebo.