I've been depressed for many years now, and I've had one suicide attempt. I've been very self-conscious about how every-day people view me. I am literally always frowning and looking unhappy, and I have trouble even looking at people in their eyes. During conversations with people, my eyes tend to wander all over the place to avoid eye contact, and I also keep my mouth half open when the other person is talking to me in order to hide my frown and I am constantly scratching my face to block my frown. My friends don't have that many pictures of me that I can look at, and I don't own a camera, so I've been unaware of this issue up until I went to the RMV about 16 months ago to get a new picture taken for my 21+ (sideways) license.
The woman who served me got me in position in front of the camera and then she said to "smile." Well, I put on (what I had thought) was a big smile using all my "smile" muscles in my face. The teary-eyed RMV worker then showed me what my picture looked like on the computer screen, and right when I saw myself (of what I thought was a big smile) my heart just completely SANK when I saw how miserable and sad I looked. What I thought would be a picture of me standing there with a smile on my face, was in reality a picture of my that looked miserable and depressed. In an attempt to play it off as smooth as I could (and to hold myself back from crying in front of everyone), I jokingly said "Haha, if it's not a problem could I get a retake?" She nodded her head in silence, and for the 2nd picture I literally conjured up as many facial "smile" muscles as I possibly could, and I still ended up with a picture of me looking very bland and expressionless. I obviously chose this one for my license picture over the first picture that looked like I was extremely depressed.
I already knew I was depressed going into the RMV, but actually seeing with my own eyes how sad I looked in that photograph when I was trying so hard to look happy really didn't sit well with me. Since that RMV visit, I've increasingly become more and more isolated and avoidant of other people, and I tend to block my mouth during social situations... even when I'm sitting in my darkly tinted car at a red light. I think if I could get rid of my frown, then I would be muuuuuch more comfortable being around and meeting other people. Could even look at them eye to eye.
So with all that said, it brings me to my QUESTION. Are there any facial exercises that target specifically at increasing the face's "smile" muscles? Or are there some sort of facial exercises that decreases the appearance of frowning?
The woman who served me got me in position in front of the camera and then she said to "smile." Well, I put on (what I had thought) was a big smile using all my "smile" muscles in my face. The teary-eyed RMV worker then showed me what my picture looked like on the computer screen, and right when I saw myself (of what I thought was a big smile) my heart just completely SANK when I saw how miserable and sad I looked. What I thought would be a picture of me standing there with a smile on my face, was in reality a picture of my that looked miserable and depressed. In an attempt to play it off as smooth as I could (and to hold myself back from crying in front of everyone), I jokingly said "Haha, if it's not a problem could I get a retake?" She nodded her head in silence, and for the 2nd picture I literally conjured up as many facial "smile" muscles as I possibly could, and I still ended up with a picture of me looking very bland and expressionless. I obviously chose this one for my license picture over the first picture that looked like I was extremely depressed.
I already knew I was depressed going into the RMV, but actually seeing with my own eyes how sad I looked in that photograph when I was trying so hard to look happy really didn't sit well with me. Since that RMV visit, I've increasingly become more and more isolated and avoidant of other people, and I tend to block my mouth during social situations... even when I'm sitting in my darkly tinted car at a red light. I think if I could get rid of my frown, then I would be muuuuuch more comfortable being around and meeting other people. Could even look at them eye to eye.
So with all that said, it brings me to my QUESTION. Are there any facial exercises that target specifically at increasing the face's "smile" muscles? Or are there some sort of facial exercises that decreases the appearance of frowning?
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