Happy Face = Happy Life… How your ‘look’ affects your demeanor and the long-term effects
Remember when you were a child and your mother would warn you to not make ugly faces because your face might stay that way?
Recent studies published in the National Library Of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health now say that if you have sad, depressed looking faces, that will translate to your emotional state thereby making you psychologically sad and depressed.
For example, someone who has tired looking eyes might be tired because they look exhausted with the dark circles and shadows and not vice versa. These physical details might be genetic but they can also steer your emotional self too. People might be treated differently because of the sadness they convey. The same with a downward smile, some people were born with mouths that naturally point south at the ends, this makes them look like the have a perpetual scowl on their faces which can trigger actual anger or depression. And who wants to be around anyone who looks constantly angry or sad or depressed.
But there is a way to combat this vicious cycle.
Dr. Alexander Rivkin, a Los Angeles Cosmetic Surgeon who was recently featured in a “Good Morning America” story about injectables suggests that fillers and Botox not only do wonders for a person’s physical appearance but they can also shift their emotional energy. A lighter looking face can instill a soft, easy casualness that is calming to the outside world and your inner being.
Dr. Rivkin says, “All day frowning actually helps trigger depression in a reflexive loop of sadness. I’m sad, I scrunch my muscles, this sends chemical signals up to my brain to make me more sad and around and around it goes.”
The old adage says you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar and that can be said about your physical and emotional demeanor, when you exhibit happiness it comes back to you in buckets. People like to be around happy people. This can translate to better relationships, a happier work environment and a joie de vivre that you never see with angry or sad-looking people.
You don’t need to go under the knife to get a shift in your physical and emotional well-being, but a less extreme and more practical and affordable treatment is definitely possible as the photo above, which is the work of Rivkin, highlights.
