I was feeling down, so I decided to get Botox. To be clear, it wasn’t about how my face looked. Life in general was getting to me. I felt tired, worn out from trying to ignore the anxious thoughts bouncing around in my head. I felt useless. I was stuck in a constant state of vague dread. So, Botox it was. One sleepless night, I fell down an internet rabbit hole and came out with a handful of studies with complicated titles like “Botulinum Toxin Therapy for Psychiatric Disorders in Clinical Practice: A Retrospective Case Study.” They suggested Botox could help with depression. The reason was almost too simple: Botox—or any similar treatment—stops you from frowning. That’s it. That’s the whole idea. It seemed worth a try.

So I went to Weiser Skin MD in SoHo. I could have gone to one of the walk-in clinics popping up all over the city—injections are the new mani-pedi!—but since this was about mental health, I thought it was smarter to see a respected medical professional. “Depression and anxiety are serious conditions best managed by psychiatrists or psychologists,” warned Dr. Jessica Weiser, a board-certified dermatologist and the founder of Weiser Skin. But she added, “Patients do say they feel more confident and relaxed after treatment.” I asked the kind Dr. Alessandra Haskin to aim for the “high end of minimal” as she prepared a needle for the muscles that pull down the corners of my mouth. That was just for good measure. The main area of scientific interest is the glabella—the spot between your eyebrows where frown lines show up. I’d have to wait two weeks to see the full effect.

As I waited, I asked myself: Do I feel more confident? Do I feel more relaxed? People kept telling me how great I looked, which was nice. But I also wondered if I was turning into a psychopath. You might have seen the meme: A client sits in a doctor’s office, points to their glabella, and says, “Just go for the empathy part.” The injector replies, “Of course, it’s our bestseller.” It’s a little one-scene joke based on research suggesting that Botox can reduce a person’s ability to “feel” what someone else is going through.

The data on this is interesting. A well-known 2011 study showed that Botox “significantly impaired emotion perception.” Another study from 2023 scanned women’s brains before and after Botox and found that relaxing the glabella could affect “the processing of emotional faces.” This is just a small sample of the research. According to Dr. Fernando Marmolejo-Ramos, an experimental psychologist at Flinders University in Australia, there are “several well-documented effects.” Botox has been shown to reduce emotional awareness, he explains. People who get Botox are “missing the subtext.”

The science comes down to one key idea: Our facial expressions both show and influence our emotions. “Think of your face as a two-way street,” Marmolejo-Ramos says. Emotions travel from the brain to the face, but there’s also a “return signal,” he adds, “and this feedback from the body helps us actually feel emotions.” I frown because I’m sad—but it’s also the act of frowning that tells me I’m sad. Botox, by freezing facial muscles, blocks this back-and-forth signaling. The result is a flattening of emotion, or “a subtle but measurable dulling of how a person processes, experiences, and reads emotion.”

In the 1990s, the discovery of “mirror neurons” showed that we unconsciously mimic each other, down to the smallest facial expressions. These micro-expressions often go unnoticed by our conscious mind and are only understood through imitation. So it makes sense that the more frozen your face is, the less likely you are to notice if someone is anxious, lying, or quietly amused. And if you’re too frozen to fully take someone in, wouldn’t it be harder for anyone to empathize with you?

“Go for the empathy part.” It’s a strange joke, when you think about it. But what makes it funny—The core of “oke land” is sincerity—the idea that life might be easier and smoother if we weren’t burdened by other people’s feelings. We live in an age of self-improvement; is a lack of empathy somehow the best approach? Does a harsh world require a cold heart and a blank expression?

“It’s fascinating—it seems like a deliberate effort to look airbrushed,” says Evan Rieder, MD, founder of 36 North Moore Dermatology, referring to the polished, avatar-like look common on social media. “But I don’t think it’s a conscious attempt to numb emotions,” he adds. Rieder, who is board-certified in both dermatology and psychiatry, is skeptical of the research. Sure, something psychological or emotional might happen when we get Botox, but not enough to make a real difference in most people’s lives. “It’s been blown out of proportion,” he says.

And the verdict on Botox as a mood booster is still far from settled. “We looked closely at all the evidence and didn’t find it convincing,” says Jeff Larsen, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Tennessee and coauthor of a 2021 review of studies on Botox’s effect on depression. The sample sizes were small, and the results were often unlikely. “When it comes to brief feelings—10 seconds, maybe up to a minute—facial expressions, like smiling, can have a small effect on how I’m feeling,” Larsen says. But as for Botox improving your mood, “you’re better off watching cute puppy videos on YouTube.”

That effect is also short-lived. I played “30 Minutes of the World’s CUTEST Puppies!” Half an hour later, my mood was about the same. But I didn’t—and couldn’t—frown. That had no noticeable impact on my happiness. The boost I got from Botox was simply liking my face a little more, which I could have guessed without reading countless scientific studies. That’s not nothing, but as I said earlier, my face was never the problem.

The constant sense of crisis in the news and the rapid advances in AI pushing us into unknown territory make it hard to see beyond next week. And despair, it’s said, comes from being unable to imagine or build a future. Hence, a lingering sense of dread—at least for me. But philosophers have long had a remedy for this state of mind: creating a future together by focusing intensely on the present, doing the human things no AI will ever be able to do—sharing joy, giving someone a hug. In other words, empathy. ChatGPT can’t help my elderly neighbor carry her groceries up the stairs. It’s a small thing, but it’s more effective than Botox at calming my mind and lifting my mood. Care. That’s it. That’s the whole point. It seems worth trying.

Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs about whether Botox can improve your mood written in a natural conversational tone with clear direct answers

BeginnerLevel Questions

1 Wait I thought Botox was just for wrinkles How could it possibly affect my mood
It sounds strange but the idea is based on the facial feedback hypothesis The theory suggests that when you cant physically make a frown your brain gets less feedback that youre sad or angry This can actually make you feel less negative or depressed

2 So if I get Botox for my frown lines will I suddenly be happy all the time
No its not a magic happiness pill Most people dont report feeling high or euphoric Instead studies suggest it can reduce the intensity of negative emotions like sadness anxiety or irritability You might feel more calm or less prone to getting stuck in a bad mood

3 Is this a new approved treatment for depression
Not officially The FDA has not approved Botox for treating depression or mood disorders Its considered an offlabel use However several research studies have shown promising results for people with major depression especially when other treatments havent worked

4 How long does it take to notice a mood change after getting Botox
It varies Some people report feeling a subtle shift within a week while others notice it after 24 weeks around the same time the wrinkles fully relax Its not an instant effect like taking a pill

Advanced Scientific Questions

5 Is the mood boost just a placebo effectbecause I feel better about how I look
Thats a great question and its a big factor Feeling more attractive and confident definitely helps your mood However studies have tried to control for this Even when people get Botox for medical reasons and dont see a cosmetic change some still report less depression This suggests there is a real physical feedback loop happening not just vanity

6 How exactly does the facial feedback loop work biologically
The theory is that when you frown your brain interprets those muscle movements as a sign of distress and releases stress hormones like cortisol By freezing the muscles that create a frown