Temporary mood improvement can be confused with cure. Alternative healers often have forceful, charismatic personalities. Psychological needs can distort what people perceive and do. According to cognitive dissonance theory, when experiences contradict existing attitudes, feelings, or knowledge, mental distress is produced. Rather than admit to themselves or to others that their efforts have been a waste, many people find some redeeming value in the treatment.
Core beliefs tend to be vigorously defended by warping perception and memory.
Fringe practitioners and their clients are prone to misinterpret cues and remember things as they wish they had happened. They may be selective in what they recall, overestimating their apparent successes while ignoring, downplaying, or explaining away their failures. The scientific method evolved in large part to reduce the impact of this human penchant for jumping to congenial conclusions. In addition, people normally feel obligated to reciprocate when someone does them a good turn. Without patients necessarily realizing it, such obligations are sufficient to inflate their perception of how much benefit they have received.