Do You Believe in Magic? In Health Crises, It Might Help Amy McHugh - The Washington Post
go to original June 19, 2023

While it may seem implausible, research suggests that magical thinking is wired into our brains and for thousands of years has been an integral part of our existence, across cultures, race and religions.

“A talisman can give people hope and allow them to be more relaxed, more present and more supportive,” says Naama Hofman, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York. “It’s similar to the placebo effect, where people get better just by the hope that they will.”

In medieval times, talismans for good luck offered extra assurance during surgeries. Though technology and medicine have evolved, our tendency to believe in magic has not.

But studies have suggested that for many people, the practice can play an important role in our daily lives, especially in times of crisis.

Stuart Vyse, a psychologist and author of “Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition,” says he sees people turn to magical beliefs when the stakes are high. Cancer diagnoses, in particular, attract magical thinking because people find them particularly scary and in most cases there’s no surefire way to cure cancer.

“When there’s a pill to take for a disease, or someone breaks a leg and we cast it, we don’t really see magical thinking turn up, because we know there’s an effective treatment and outcome,” Vyse says.

But when medicine and science can’t provide us with a guarantee, he says, a “psychological gap” exists and a need for something better, that might improve the odds, takes over.

“The strongest effect of magical thinking is simply the emotional benefit in the moment,” Vyse said.

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