Well…. the placebo effect is very very strong. In order for it to work, however, is that the person doesn’t know they are taking nothing but sugar pills or drinking some sort of purified water. Antidepressants these days have some real working parts to them with proper effects on the brain and extended nervous system. I was on them for a while and it’s not so much that they helped me feel less depressed,... I just didn’t care that much any more. EVERYTHING was dampened down, like a pillow shoved into a drum. If someone needs that effect, there’s no placebo for that.
I think people take things and do things all the time and get a placebo effect and I’ll NEVER rain on their placebo parade. It is measurable and it is good for them, but doctors will mostly err on the side of caution and the ‘quick fix’ has become the norm.