Curing depression with Botox ?

We've spoken at length in the past about the many uses for Botox - it's not all wrinkles and crow's feet, as we keep telling you!

You may have read in The Times over the weekend that Botox is now being tested as a cure for depression.

“The basic principle is that there is feedback from the body to the brain so the brain always knows what the body is doing,” said Marc Axel Wollmer, the psychiatrist in charge of the trials being held jointly at Basle University, Switzerland, and Hanover University, Germany.

“If we have an emotion like joy or grief we also have a facial expression that corresponds,” he said. “Studies indicate that if we deliberately produce a facial expression, there is a change in feeling.”

The article goes on to relate this to the age old advice that if you're nervous at a party, smiling will help you to enjoy it more, as the body takes its cue from the facial expression.

An initial test of using Botox for depression on 10 people showed that of the 10, 9 are no longer depressed and the 10th has reported that he/she feels better.

It's early days, but we'll keep you posted, both here and at our Riverbanks Clinic website!