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Should You Fake a Smile to Help Alleviate Depression

Depression is a state of mind where a person starts feeling pessimistic or hopeless. It can be triggered by a lot of external factors. Even environmental and hormonal factors are believed to affect the human mind.  Some experts say that lifestyle and living habits also play a vital role in influencing the electro-chemical activities in the brain. Various studies have been reviewed to understand what all can act as a natural antidepressant and acupuncture for depression for human beings. Things that are at the top of the list for acting natural antidepressants are food, colors, environment, antidepressant activities and hormonal changes.

A Smiles Effect On Depression

The question whether faking a smile can help alleviate depression is debatable. Many people claim through personal experience that smiling does have an effect in changing one’s mood for the better. Surveys show that many people actually feel elated and happier through the practice of smiling and can inspiring quotes help relieve depression. Scientific proof supporting a direct correlation between facial expressions and their effect on the mind is not available. However, one cannot rule out the possibility of a link between the two. The search for natural antidepressants receives much interest due to the side effects a person has to bear by using drugs for the same. Putting your body through the ill effects of chemical substances is generally not preferred when problem can be cured by antidepressant activities.

Benefits Of Smiling

Smiling can bring positivity and set tone to one’s mood. It has invariably been established that a smiling face does make others calmer. It has been argued that if a smile can so tremendously influence other people and signal good will to the brain, it must undoubtedly have the ability to affect one’s own mind as well. Being surrounded by a positive and friendly environment can get rid of the gloominess and loneliness that have been associated with a depressed state of mind. A gentle smile can relax someone and aid in lifting the mood. Whether or not such claims have any weight, it never hurts to get into the habit of faking a smile. Least of all, it will make others around happier. It takes fewer muscles to smile than to brood or frown.

Others might find the idea of smiling for no reason a bit strange. Particularly when a person is sad, it can prove to be very difficult to smile. This is because though the effect of a smile on the mood has not yet been established, it remains a fact that wanting to smile is a direct consequence of the state of mind. Smiling when one is unhappy goes against all the natural instincts a person possesses. Training your mind to do something against its will is pretty difficult. It is better to find the truth by yourself. Smiling does not charge any money, time or energy. If smiling helps in making one feel better, it is an added benefit. If it does not, one can always drop the habit. However, one must always remember that smiling fills the surroundings with a positive energy. It is a gesture that conveys peace and acceptance to others.