Why so... serious?
When my alarm went off on Thursday morning, the disembodied radio voices were talking about a new study about Botox. (I'll admit, I reset the alarm and rolled over for a few more zzz's.) When I eventually got up and made my daily 'Net rounds, I noticed that Mark had, that day, blogged about the same research!
To nutshell it: Your smile/frown has as much effect on your mood as your mood does on your smile/frown. If you're feeling down, you can measurably improve your mood simply by smiling! And vice versa for frowning. So these researchers determined that - because Botox temporarily paralyzes your facial muscles, making it impossible for you to frown - people who have had recent Botox injections feel happier.
Of course, "the [cosmetic] industry has already shown interest in promoting Botox as a mood enhancer"! As far as I know, no psychologists are (yet) seriously advocating using Botox to treat depression or other mood disorders. Though, to quote Mark, it's worth noting that "therapeutic interventions which may look as if they are only addressing a small part of the problem ... can have a much greater impact through ‘ripple effect’ than is necessarily immediately obvious."
That said, whilst I was in the shower, my mind was mulling this information. I reasoned, "All right, granted. But Botox paralyzation also keeps you from smiling, so it's also preventing the mood-lifting benefits of a wide grin."
In my experience, we live in a society where the news "a little red wine each day can benefit your health" results in people downing fermented grape juice by the gallon (or "carbs are bad" sends millions running to Atkins). So from there, my mind went to the logical Western Society exaggerated extension of the Botox research.
Thus, I ask: How long before someone starts marketing treatments to make us all look like this? ;-)
To nutshell it: Your smile/frown has as much effect on your mood as your mood does on your smile/frown. If you're feeling down, you can measurably improve your mood simply by smiling! And vice versa for frowning. So these researchers determined that - because Botox temporarily paralyzes your facial muscles, making it impossible for you to frown - people who have had recent Botox injections feel happier.
Of course, "the [cosmetic] industry has already shown interest in promoting Botox as a mood enhancer"! As far as I know, no psychologists are (yet) seriously advocating using Botox to treat depression or other mood disorders. Though, to quote Mark, it's worth noting that "therapeutic interventions which may look as if they are only addressing a small part of the problem ... can have a much greater impact through ‘ripple effect’ than is necessarily immediately obvious."
That said, whilst I was in the shower, my mind was mulling this information. I reasoned, "All right, granted. But Botox paralyzation also keeps you from smiling, so it's also preventing the mood-lifting benefits of a wide grin."
In my experience, we live in a society where the news "a little red wine each day can benefit your health" results in people downing fermented grape juice by the gallon (or "carbs are bad" sends millions running to Atkins). So from there, my mind went to the logical Western Society exaggerated extension of the Botox research.
Thus, I ask: How long before someone starts marketing treatments to make us all look like this? ;-)
