A Study On The Effects Of Botox And Depression

1045 Words3 Pages

The not-so-secret weapon in almost every aging Hollywood star’s arsenal is Botox. It has been dubbed the fountain of youth in a syringe. Almost everyone in Hollywood has had a Botox injection here or there, and in the words of Jenna McCarthy, “Anyone who doesn’t [admit it] is full of [bleep].” The celebrity doctors of Los Angeles and New York City estimate that as many as 75% of their famous patients over age 35 have gotten Botox (Triggs & Harrington, 2009). While this youth potion has been erasing crow’s feet and neck wrinkles since 1997, a new study reveals that celebrities may need to credit more than just their ageless complexions to Botox. Botox, get ready for this eyebrow raiser, can alleviate depression.
In the largest controlled study to date on the effects of Botox on depression, Finzi and Rosenthal (2014) randomly assigned 74 patients with major depressive disorder to either receive Botox or saline placebo injections to their corrugator and procerus muscles. The corrugator and procerus muscles, which lie between the eyebrows, are the muscles that contract when a person frowns. When Botox is injected into these muscles it acts like a tiny poison dart that temporarily stops chemical nerve signals from being sent to those muscles, thereby paralyzing them. By paralyzing the “frown muscles,” the Botox inhibits frown facial expressions (Singer, 2009). The researchers in this study reasoned that inhibiting frowning would treat the participants’ depression.
The researchers’ hypothesis is premised on a theory first proposed by Charles Darwin called the “facial feedback hypothesis” (Finzi et. al., 2014). Darwin suggested that the feedback our brains receive from the contraction of our facial muscles plays a casual role in cont...

... middle of paper ...

... Rosenthal (2014) essentially tricked the brains of their depressed participants into thinking that they’re no longer sad. The findings of this study are groundbreaking, because those suffering from this devastating disorder now have an entirely new approach to treating their depression. Although Botox supersedes antidepressants in both safety and cost, it’s probably too premature to declare Botox the antidepressant of the 21st century. As with all new studies, this breakthrough requires more well-designed and rigorous clinical trials before the Finzi et. al (2014) study can be confirmed and larger, more meaningful conclusions can be drawn. However, if this treatment does prove to be effective, just imagine the thousands, maybe millions of cosmetic Botox-users whose depression was serendipitously treated or prevented thanks to a little, painless injection of Botox.

Open Document