Look Happy, Feel Happy: Botox Boosts Mood
We’ve all heard the advice, “Fake it til you make it” — the belief, confirmed by science, that by simply forcing ourselves to smile, we feel happier.
At the same time, researchers are finding that suppressing the ability to frown can significantly boost mood.
The most-recent study, reported in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, showed Botox injections disabling patients’ frowning muscles provided effective relief of clinical depression.
The double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial looked at 85 subjects with DSM-IV major depression, who were initially rated during screening, then at three and six weeks after their treatment, using the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale.
Six weeks after treatment, 52 percent of the patients who received Botox showed a decrease of at least 50 percent in their depression score, compared with just 15 percent of those injected with the placebo. Clinical remission was achieved by 27 percent of the Botox group versus 7 percent of the placebo group.
“A single treatment [with Botox] appears to induce a significant and sustained antidepressant effect in patients with major depression,” the report concludes.
The investigators identified several potential advantages of using Botox to treat depression, including improved compliance, cost effective, few drug interactions and well-documented safety.
This study bolsters a 30-patient German trial, published in 2012, that also observed the ability of Botox to relieve depression.
Other earlier research also found that of 25 females, the half whose ability to frown was comp¬romised using Botox reported feeling happier and less anxious in general. Interestingly, they did not report feeling any more attractive, which suggests that the emotional effects of the injections were not related to a potential psychological boost from the treatment’s cosmetic nature.
In Salt Lake City and South Ogden, Utah, Brzowski Plastic Surgery is pleased to provide a range of safe and effective cosmetic injectables, including Botox, Restyalane, Juvederm, Radiesse and collagen. As each procedure and each patient is unique, contact Dr. Brian Brzowski for a detailed consultation and tailored treatment that will leave you all smiles.
