Marie Claire Australia — June 2017

160 marieclaire.com.au

B

otox is widely lauded

as a drug for smoothing

wrinkles – and making

Mickey Rourke look

more and more like a

Thunderbird. But today

researchers are trialling Botox as

a potential cure for depression.

According to Beyond Blue, around

one million Australian adults suffer

from depression and two million from

anxiety each year. With 10 per cent of

the population taking antidepressants,

Australia has one of the highest uses in

the world.* But they don’t work for

everyone. Professor Philip Mitchell,

head of the School of Psychiatry at the

University of New South Wales, says

that because patients suffer side effects

including weight gain, nausea and

decreased libido, they are searching for

effective alternatives.

A study published in the Journal of

Psychiatric Research found 52 per cent

of patients suffering from depression

showed relief in symptoms after Botox

was injected into the glabella (the area

between the brows). Consequently,

Allergan, the company that manufac-

turers Botox, is now running clinical

trials in the hope that the US Food and

Drug Administration approve Botox as

an official drug to treat depression.

Botox jabs could lift your

appearance and your mood – and

not because you look 10 years

younger. Natasha Patch investigates

BOTOX

IS PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAVID OLDHAM/TRUNKARCHIVE.COM/SNAPPER MEDIA; GETTY IMAGES. *“THE UNFULFILLED PROMISE OF THE ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDI

CATIONS”,

THE MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA.

^BEYONDBLUE.ORG.AU. THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HERE IS GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO

the new antidepressant? CONTAIN OR CONVEY MEDICAL ADVICE OR INSTRUCTION. ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR GP OR OTHER APPROPRIATE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL