Treating depression with a toxin
Depression is, unfortunately, one of the most common and most frequently treated mental health disorders in our modern day society and affects over 121 million people worldwide.
It is often a combination of biological, psychological and social factors, and there are a multitude of effective pharmacological and therapeutic options for treatment.
Recent international studies are exploring the development of alternative therapeutic techniques in an effort to improve the course and prognosis of depressive disorders.
It has long been known that negative emotions like anger, fear, and sadness are associated with activation of the muscles responsible for our frown. There are three contributing muscles that make up this area, and treatment with Botulinum toxin is the most frequent aesthetic intervention. By injecting the frown, we temporarily relax the contractibility of the muscles, thus inhibiting the ability to produce a negative facial expression.
“A smile will evoke enjoyment and positive emotion, whilst a frown will perpetuate negativity.”
Charles Darwin pioneered the Facial Feedback Hypothesis, whereby facial movement can impact emotional experience.
Darwin states, “The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it.” In other words, a smile will evoke enjoyment and positive emotion, whilst a frown will perpetuate negativity.
Treatment of the frown with Botulinum toxin changes facial expression from angry, sad or fearful to one that is happy, thus significantly reducing the subjective level of negative emotion experienced by the patient. It is also thought that a more positive facial expression yields a more encouraging, positive response with social interaction, thus further contributing to mood enhancement.
