23 Jun Myths about How Botox Works to Treat Depression

Myth: When you smile more, you send positive feedback to your brain which makes you feel happier.

This idea is the facial feedback hypothesis. This hypothesis has its roots in behavioral treatments. This behavioral approach suggests that if you force yourself to smile, you will then become happier and conversely if you frown you will become sad. These connections are based on the idea that your facial muscles send signals back to the brain when the contract or relax, and these signals change how you feel. So the brain affects your facial expression, but your facial expression can also affect how your brain perceives emotion.

If we accept this hypothesis then we must accept that Botox paralyzes the muscle, resulting in the inability to frown and thus antidepressant effects are seen, but this isn’t very logical. People with depression often times act happy and upbeat around others but this happiness and smiling does not change their depression. You will commonly find people saying, “But s/he is always so happy, there is no way they can be depressed.” Smiling by itself is not going to treat depression. Click here to learn how Botox actually works to treat depression.