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Treating depression with botox?

       We all intuitively know that our facial expressions communicate more than our words. But can your facial expressions actually change your mood elevate your emotions?  Researchers for years have proven that your facial expressions do indeed mirror your internal emotions. We frown when we are sad and we smile when we are happy.  It begs the question, what comes first - the emotion (happy or sad) or the facial expression? To help answer this question a team of researchers, Martin and Stepper, conducted a test to see if they could induce positive emotions by creating the corresponding facial expression. They conducted a study with two groups of participants asking them to examine a set of The Far Side cartoons and rate how humorous they perceived them to be. One group was instructed to take a felt-tip marker (properly sanitized) and hold it in their mouth as if to approximate a smile. The other group had no such marker. Of the two groups the one with the approximated smile found the cartoons more humorous and thus concluding that if we can smile, we can affect our mood and brighten our day. When you mimic the facial expressions of happiness and joy you actually feel it.

To further prove this, a study was conducted to see if Botox could relieve the symptoms of depression. In 2006 Doctors Finzi and Wasserman conducted study with ten clinically depressed women whose depression did not respond to traditional treatment of drugs or psychotherapy. All of the women were ages 36 to 63 and their depression ranged from two to seventeen years. Each woman was injected with Botox to the frown lines near the bridge of their nose.  In just two months 9 out of the 10 women showed no signs or demonstrated symptoms of depression.  

                I don’t recommend that you run out and get a Botox treatment to help relieve depression but I am suggesting that you can increase your positive emotions by smiling more and frowning less. Even if you don’t ‘feel like it,’ you can dramatically increase your ability to cope, improve your mood, and increase your happiness by smiling until you feel it.

                 Not only will a smile cause others to treat you better and with more respect, it will help you feel a whole lot better.