Four Ways Botox May Change the Way You Relate to People 

Human beings have been striving to maintain a youthful appearance since the dawn of time. Ancient rituals can be traced back to the earliest civilizations. Just in the last twenty years, the beauty industry has made billions on tummy tucks, breast implants, and facelifts. Finally, the beauty industry has offered something that seems minimally invasive and Botulinum, also known as Botox, has become the newest rage in defying age.

Now we can all maintain that youthful glow without undergoing major surgery. The fact that the company that patented Botox has recently sold for $66 billion is evidence that many people are now using Botox.

This may cause some to wonder if Botox is harmful or if there are adverse side effects. When drafting this article I did a quick Google search and found 197 million hits on Botox, and only 13 million hits for adverse reactions.

This made me wonder if most of the people using Botox have no concerns about adverse reactions. I also wondered if Botox has any effect on mental health and personal relationships. There isn’t much research on this topic, however the following is what I discovered.

It can help to alleviate depression.

In a small study conducted through the University of California, Irvine, it was found that Botox may help with the management of depression.

Cosmetically, Botox is most often used to reduce the appearance of wrinkles in the forehead and around the eyes and mouth. Through the use of tiny injections in these facial areas, the muscles become unable to contract. This gives the skin a smooth and relaxed appearance. The relaxed muscles result in a reduced ability to frown.

There is research on how smiling can trick your brain into feeling less anxious or depressed. Now we are seeing how the inability to frown may also have a positive effect on depression. The inability to frown seems to trick the brain so that it doesn’t process sadness as intensely. The inability to frown also seems to lessen the negative impact caused by stressful situations.

Professor Dr. Tillmann Krüger, senior physician and research group leader at the Clinic for Psychiatry, Social Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Hannover Medical School (MHH), along with others conducted research to determine whether there is a link between facial expression and emotion.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) he and his colleagues were able to see the link between muscles in the lower forehead (the glabellar region) and the amygdala. The amygdala is the region of the brain that regulates emotions. This research uncovered a feedback loop between the facial muscles and the brain. The takeaway from this study is that a relaxed face that is less likely to frown lessens the ability to feel sadness.

“The result: botulinum toxin influences the so-called amygdala or almond nucleus in the temporal lobe in the brain, where fears arise and are processed. The work was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.”

Thanks to Botox we are beginning to understand how the muscles on the forehead help the brain to interpret and process emotions.

Botox may cause panic attacks.

In the same small study, some of the Botox recipients felt anxious after receiving Botox injections in the facial muscles. This also may be due to the inability to fully use facial muscles to express emotions.

Facial muscles and psychological states are closely linked. When some Botox recipients find that the fine muscles in their faces are unable to contract, and therefore, not accurately reflect their emotional state, it induces fear and they begin to feel anxious and panic.

It may cause difficulty in relating to others.

In the same small study conducted by the University of California, Irvine, researchers also discovered that Botox interferes with the way people process and interpret others’ emotions. When we see a sad expression, we unconsciously mimic their expression. The same thing happens when we see happy smiles. We unconsciously mimic the expressions of the people we talk with.

When Botox is administered to the forehead, we can no longer mimic those expressions, and this directly affects the way our brains process the facial expressions and moods of the other people around us. The research suggests that “because Botox prevents that muscle reaction, it scrambles the brain’s ability to interpret other people’s facial expressions.”

Martin Scorsese, an Academy Award-winning film director, became an early critic of Botox injections for actors. He found it increasingly difficult to find actors who could convey nonverbal emotions of anger and sadness.

However, the negative effects of Botox reach far beyond that and also impair the ability to respond accurately to the emotions of others. If you happen to enjoy watching old movies and compare the nonverbal expression of emotions to more current films, you may notice the apparent lack of connection between characters.

Botox may have a negative impact on parenting.

Mental health professionals all agree that the ability of an infant to attach to a primary caregiver, traditionally the mother, will affect their attitudes about themselves and the world around them. Many books and articles have been published on the importance of the parent-infant bond.

Infants don’t use spoken language to communicate. Infants use emotions. It is through emotions that infants learn about themselves and the world around them. As mentioned earlier, we unconsciously mimic the facial expressions of the person with whom we are communicating. This ability to mirror the infant’s emotional state is extremely important.

Accurate parental mirroring is what causes the infant to feel safe and understood. When Botox is injected into the forehead, the muscles relax, and fine lines disappear. The parent using Botox no longer mirrors the infant’s expression. Instead, the infant is met with a flat somewhat expressionless face.

Dr. Ed Tronick, associate professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts, states that Botulinum injected into the muscles of the face will indeed disrupt and distort parent-infant communication. It limits the parent’s ability to empathize with the infant.

As infants grow into children, they begin to talk and use language to express themselves and communicate with others. Parents may be thinking that if they only wait until the child talks, and then it will be okay to use Botox, may want to consider the following.

David Havas, a psychological scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison conducted a study to determine if Botulinum administered to the lower forehead, also known as the glabellar region, reduced the intensity of emotions. He was also interested to see if the obstruction of muscles used to frown would affect reading speed.

Dr. Haves discovered that after Botox injections the subjects were not able to read as quickly as before Botox treatments. He also discovered that after Botox injections, the subjects were not able to understand angry or sad sentences as clearly as before Botox injections. The results were published in the journal Psychological Science:

“the scientists not only verified their theory of language processing, they also showed that getting rid of frowns selectively impairs the ability to understand angry and sad sentences. In other words, it’s normal to frown – undetectably – when we try to process anger and sadness. If we can’t frown, our emotional understanding breaks down.”

In conclusion.

Botulinum also known as Botox is now a wildly popular treatment to keep us all looking younger and more relaxed. With the popularity of Botox treatments, especially for frown lines, science has now discovered a link between facial expression and our brain’s ability to process emotions. When we are unable to frown deeply we are also unable to feel sadness as deeply. This is great news for those who suffer from disabling depression.

The dark side of Botox is this. When muscles in the lower forehead are injected with Botox to relax those unwanted frown lines, we are no longer able to mirror the expressions of others to whom we are talking. This unconscious mirroring is vital in nonverbal communication.

Botox administered to the lower forehead also scrambles our brain’s ability to understand emotional language and impairs our ability to empathize with others. The inability to clearly express nonverbal communication negatively affects parenting, as infants and young children need nonverbal communication to develop a sense of themselves and the world around them.

Considering all the aspects of Botox is important before you decide if this treatment is right for you. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to speak to a mental health professional who can guide you through this decision. As you can see, it is not as simple as easing unwanted frown lines, Botox will affect your relationship with yourself and others.