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Open-label placebos Mind over medicine

Placebos can help even when you know.

Five evidence-based protocols that harness your brain's own pharmacy to improve your condition.

Designed using research from the world's leading institutions

Harvard Medical School Columbia University Dana-Farber Cancer Institute MD Anderson Cancer Center University of Maryland School of Medicine Universität Zürich Universität Marburg Universität Leipzig

The founding study

2010

A groundbreaking Harvard study showed that an honest placebo could actually help patients.[1]

2× Relief reported almost twice as often vs. control
1,250+ Citations across other peer-reviewed publications
OLP Kicked off the field known as Open Label Placebos

This incredible trial showed that IBS patients who received honest placebos reported clinically meaningful relief almost twice as frequently vs control. This kicked off an entirely new field of research into honest placebos, called Open Label Placebos (OLPs) and has been cited more than 1250 times in other publications.

Kaptchuk et al. (2010) — Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in IBS. Published in PLoS ONE.
Kaptchuk T.J. et al. · PLoS ONE, 2010

[1] Kaptchuk T.J. et al. (2010). “Placebos without Deception: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.” PLoS ONE 5(12):e15591. View study →


Gold-standard science

Gold-standard science has confirmed the positive effect of honest placebos across conditions.

A hand writing on a Copables 'Mapping Your Triggers' protocol card with a copables-branded pen.

Analog × Digital

But not everyone can participate in a research study at Harvard.

Copables creates science-backed 14 day protocols that use placebos and cognitive restructuring to replicate participation in the research studies from home.

How over what

The science shows that how you take something can matter just as much as what you are taking.


Inside-out

Your brain has its own pharmacy. It just needs to be unlocked.

Studies have shown that non-deceptive placebos can cause your brain to produce the very same symptom-relieving chemicals present in real pharmacology.

See the Science
A hand pouring Copables OLP gummies into an open palm, next to a five-star review reading 'I woke up feeling actually rested.'

A new field

Placebos are one of the most underutilized tools in modern medicine.

Open Label Placebos are an emerging field of research whose benefits lie locked away in research labs. Until now.

View 272 OLP publications in PubMed
PubMed publications · year 2010 — 2024
300 200 100 0 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 Kaptchuk et al., 2010 Seminal Harvard OLP study 272 pubs · 2024
Annual open-label placebo publications grew from 3 to 272 — roughly 90× in fourteen years.

Copables is an anagram of the word “placebos.”

A bottle of Copables OLP gummies tipped on its side with red gummies spilling out.

Our protocols

Learn more about our Protocols

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IBS
90%

improvement in IBS severity vs. control. 69% of participants reported clinically meaningful relief.

Lembo et al., 2021 View Study
View Protocol
Low Mood
22%

reduction in negative emotions vs. control. Brain scans confirmed activation of emotion-regulation circuitry.

Schaefer et al., 2022 View Study
View Protocol
Anxiety
46%

reduction in anxiety-induced test failure. Driving-test failure dropped from 53% to 29%.

Schaefer & Enge, 2024 View Study
View Protocol
Fatigue
29%

improvement in fatigue severity in cancer survivors. 39% improvement in fatigue-disrupted quality of life.

Hoenemeyer et al., 2018 View Study
View Protocol
View all protocols →