Thread by @ThorBrah

During the celeb Botox craze in the early 2000s, many of the ppl who got the treatment reported shifts in their emotional behavior.

This was at first odd, as Botox itself solely affects physical appearance and doesn’t interact with any sort of brain function.

At least directly

Depressed people suddenly started feeling less depressed.

But for most, they started having trouble with empathy, the feeling of community and connecting with those around them.

Why the shift in emotional behavior from a superficial operation?

When this behavior was studied, it was found that the inability to have normal micro expressions in their faces dampened people’s feelings.

We make thousands of micro expressions in our faces each day, conveying a wide range of emotional repsonses to situations.

One of the more important functions is to connect with those around you.

You subliminally take in all these micro expressions from others, often times mirroring them.

This bevahior allows you to fully empathize and connect with people.

When those who got Botox interacted with others in daily life, they were literally unable to mirror those expressions.

Most of the time, resulting in a debilitating shift in their psyche.

The inability to recognize and mirror other people’s micro expressions results in a profound decrease in empathy, connectedness, and community.

Do with that information what you will.