Botox could harm your relationships!

[ItsGraceAgain]

Your ability to understand & 'feel' an emotion is affected by your physical expression of that feeling. In simple terms, this is why it's hard to feel angry if you're laughing. In this study, 40 women were tested on their ability to assess the emotion in a written sentence after having 'frown line' Botox. After the injection, the women were slower to understand sadness and anger. It seems that Botox makes you less capable of responding to an angry or upset person. The report says: Let's say that, in a marital disagreement, your spouse is repeatedly just a tenth of a second too slow in responding, leaving the mounting impression of disinterest or failure to comprehend.

So if you've had Botox and DP says you don't seem to understand him, he could be right!

It was only a small study, but it does fit what we know about 'somatic response'. It's also made me wonder about Asperger's - if AS people are taught to use appropriate facial expressions in conversation, does it help their interactions? Or is that bit of mental wiring completely absent in ASDs?

That's very interesting. There's some research hat has found that people with Parkinsons (a characteristic if which is the "mask like" emotionless face), find it difficult to read other people's facial expressions, kind of ties in with that.

I had botox a couple of weeks ago, will have to ask colleagues at work tomorrow if I've been less alert to their emotions!

I've still got my natural scowl (and sneer, smile, etc)... it is ageing, though. Have you felt less like frowning, now you can't?

Yes, definitely felt less like frowning now. Have had it before ( just have it done about every 18 months, lasts about 3 months each time). I find that you get used to not frowning and that once the botox wears off you don't frown so much afterwards.

When I had it done this time, she just used half the usual dose for for my frown as it was all that was needed. Must say, she's vey good as I can still do a small frown, which is preferable to the totally frozen look.

interesting my mum has parkinsons and i think she has become more selfish - maybe she just cant read others faces as before.

Could it be linked to the 'mirroring' we do when we are close to someone? And so if unable to do that we have somehow lost that ability?

Yes, I think so, HW. If you watch someone's face while they're engaged with a film or a book, you'll see the emotions flitting across their face - they're mirroring the characters' feelings.

Somatic response theory says feelings are engendered by the physical response: it's a loop, where the feeling generates the physical response and the physical response reinforces the feeling. We all know this, anyway - "smile if you want to be happy"; relax if you feel anxious; that infectious yawn thing. So when you mirror the TV character's response, your mirroring promotes the same feeling within you. It's actually a crucial element in communication, and it makes sense that having a frozen face would interfere with that. I hadn't thought of the connection with Botox before!

Yours sounds great, SK Going to give myself a brow massage now ...