Botox may be effective for highly depressed patients

A small study conducted by dermatologist Eric Finzi and Dr. Erika Wasserman discovered that treating clinically depressed patients with Botox on the frown lines of their faces surprisingly got rid of their depression.

Finzi's study, which was published this month in the society's journal Dermatologic Surgery, indicated that major depression is a common and serious disease. The researchers discovered that major depression is sometime resistant to drug therapy and psychotherapeutic treatment approaches.

In this trial, the researchers wanted to evaluate how effective Botulinim Toxin (Botox) - A treatment of mesophyron frown lines might be for patients with major depression.
For this purpose they conducted a small open pilot trial on 10 patients who had ongoing major depression despite drug and psychotherapeutic treatment. They were examined carefully with the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) before receiving Botox treatment on their frown lines.

And two months later after treating with the Botox, all ten patients were re-examined clinically and with the BDI-II.

The dermatologists found nine patients were no longer depressed two months after Botox treatment on their frown lines, while only one subject experienced no improvement in mood. They concluded that the depressed patients, who received the treatment of wrinkle removing Botox, were in a better mood after.

This small study is the first ever to provide empirical support for what a number of clinicians say they have noticed anecdotically: People who get their wrinkled brows extinguished with Botox often report an improvement in mood.

Dr. Finzi said, “Maybe the frown is not just an end result of the depression; maybe you need to frown in order to be depressed,” Finzi added, “I don't think it has anything to do with making you look better. These patients were not coming to me for Botox; they were coming because I was offering a new treatment for depression.”

After the trial, the researchers arrived at the opinion that Botox treatment on frown lines may be an effective treatment for patients with major depression who have not responded to routine pharmacologic and cathartic treatment approaches.

However, Finzi said a larger study is required to draw scientific conclusions but is so confident he has applied for a patent to use Botox for treating depression.