Abstract

Objectives: To discern the habitual use of and belief in alternative remedies. Design: Questionnaire covered demographic details and use and experience of using alternative remedies. Settings/Location: Online completion of questionnaire. Subjects: Sixty-nine participants (55 female, 14 male) aged between 18 to 30 years studying undergraduate and postgraduate psychology at Bournemouth University, Dorset, UK. Interventions: Structured open and closed questions; all questions were given to all participants. Outcome Measures: Qualitative comments; percentage of respondents in common categories of answers. Results: The majority of respondents had used remedies for exam nerves or anxiety related to academic input. Many had obtained these products from friends or relatives rather than from retail outlets. Conclusions: Respondents provided a number of reasons for their belief in the efficacy of the chosen product including: genuine effect; psychological (placebo) effect; or an ambiguous effect.