A dirty little secret of medicine is that doctors will prescribe placebos for maladies that they can find no obvious reason for. And sometimes they work. One doctor tried it on my sister once and it did not work. She found out much later from a subsequent doctor who shared her chart with her.

As far as the malady is concerned, of course the patient has to believe that they have a medical condition and the doctor has to convince them that they will receive a treatment that will cure that condition. Otherwise there is no chance of placebo effect.

I do not assert that your friend received a placebo, and I apologize if I offended you.