[Scalene2]

Someone will probably say that the (real and positive) results are due purely to the placebo effect.

I say, so what, the results are real, who cares what the mechanism of action is as long as it's harmless.

[JohnBooty]

I think it's well accepted that mood / mental state can affect performance. It's also well accepted that smells can affect us emotionally. I think the burden of proof is on anybody who doesn't think smells can affect performance.

They should, ideally, have to perform this work while sitting in a smelly public bathroom.

[RC_ITR]

There’s also an argument to be made that the average scientist is more anxious and in their head than the average human.

So the effect of “X thing relaxes Y person, which leads to better outcomes” is woefully understudied/underutilized, since it doesn’t work on the scientists/doctors themselves.

[Tao3300]

I think it's somewhere between real and placebo, if that makes sense. I doubt that any particular essential oils themselves actually have their own effects; rather they provide a degree of stimulation to the senses that is therapeutic.

[phkahler]

I say HN just got gamed by low karma accounts in a coordinated way to shill essential oils.

Even the personal accounts here don't sound like 226 percent cognitive improvements mentioned in the sales piece - err I mean article.