Botox For Depression?

In the past year there has been a plethora of articles about BOTOX® and depression. Apparently depressed people who have had BOTOX® injections for cosmetic reasons, often become less depressed. You may think this is simply because these patients feel better about how they look. But it turns out there is more to it than that.

It was Darwin back in 1872, who originally suggested that emotion that is freely expressed will be intensified, and emotion that is repressed or held in, will be “softened,” or lessened. Science has come a long way since 1872, but this statement of Darwin’s has led to modern research on how facial expressions effect emotions. The Facial Feedback Hypothesis is the theory that facial expressions effect how you feel emotionally.

You have probably heard that when you feel down, smiling will make you feel better. This is because facial expressions have motor and sensory mechanisms. A physical smile on your face makes your brain think you might be happy, just as a happy thought puts a smile on your face. The same is true of a frown. People who feel sad and depressed tend to frown, accentuating those frown lines between the eyebrows. The theory is that when BOTOX® is injected preventing extreme frowning, the muscles do not send that “unhappy” data back to the brain. The feedback loop is broken. BOTOX® selectively relaxes the muscles so that the sensory commands from the face cannot get back to the brain to continue the expressed emotion. Hence, the emotion is “softened,” as Darwin suggested all those years ago. At least that is the theory.

The science of all this is still in its infancy and no one is suggesting BOTOX® to treat depression just yet. So far, BOTOX® has been helpful medically for overactive bladder, migraine headaches, and much, much more. Of course the most popular use of BOTOX® is still cosmetic. At Little Rock Cosmetic Surgery Center we only use FDA approved BOTOX® made by the Allergan company to smooth out those frown lines.

Dr. Branman

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