Loose lips ..............................................................................................
People who are relaxed, sad, or depressed let their lips hang loose. Their lips
lack tension. Their expression tells you that they’ve let go, or, in some cases,
given up.
Chewing on lips ....................................................................................
When some people feel anxious they chew on something such as a pencil, a
finger, or a lip. Subconsciously, they’re reverting back to the breast, which
offers comfort. The lip is the easiest object to chew on, because it’s right
there. You don’t have to reach for an object and put it between your lips, you
don’t have to stick your finger in your mouth, you just have to engage your
lips with your teeth to find comfort.
The three main lip chewing gestures associated with anxiety are:
Lower lip bite.The upper teeth bite down on the lower lip. The teeth
may rub against the lip, pulling it in and out of the mouth.
Upper lip bite.The lower teeth protrude forward and catch the upper lip.
The teeth may slide back and forth on the lip, in a sucking like manner.
Lip to lip bite.Both the upper and lower lips come into contact, pulling
inwards and resting tightly on the teeth.
In addition to being a sign of anxiety, chewing your lips is also a gesture
showing self-restraint – a default mechanism keeping you from saying some-
thing that you may later regret.
People who feel embarrassed may chew on their lips as a way of holding onto
themselves, even if it’s by the skin of their teeth!
Maintaining a stiff upper lip ................................................................
The stiff upper lip is a real facial expression. The upper lip muscle tightens
to contain emotion. People who don’t want to express their feelings when
they’ve been told bad news or are facing adversity tighten their upper lip
to keep their emotions contained rather than letting their emotions spill
forth.
Photographs of the disgraced peer and newspaper magnate, Conrad Black,
show him leaving court during his fraud trial, with his lips tightly clenched. A
guilty verdict would mean massive fines and time spent in prison. His tension
was showing.
Chapter 6: Lip Reading ....................................................................................................
