Thought I’d share this, since there are a few STWers who suffer from depression. I watched the recent documentary “the doctor who gave up drugs”, and the woman who found that her mental health benefitted from open-water swimming got me thinking. We don’t have anywhere local where I could try open-water swimming, so I decided to try cold showers at home instead. I took advice that you should do it in a warm bathroom, and follow a regular warm shower with a cold one, getting used to the cold gradually before standing right under!
I’ve been doing it almost every day for 3 weeks. There’s an immediate euphoria, definitely, but I want to continue for longer before I feel confident to claim any longer-term lasting effects! I do feel quite positive that it helps.
I guess if you have high blood pressure you should ask your doctor first.

The running author Robin Askwith talks about it in his latest book. He seems to think it has great benefits. I’m too much of a wimp to try it!

Love cold showers and baths and agree withnsensenof euphoria/tingling that sets in. Not sure about effects for depression etc, but lovely nonetheless. Ditto swimming in rivers.

Not to dispute your experience, but as someone who suffers from depression, it’s not the cold. In the case of the open water swimming, and Askwith’s running (great book!), it’s the exercise that is helping.

*shudders

There’s definitely something happening that has nothing to do with the exercise element. The feeling of euphoria seems to develop as the body warms up. I’ve felt it after “swimming” in pools at waterfalls.

Agreed entirely – cold showers, jumping in cold lakes, tarns, lochs… all great for the soul.

One of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had was getting back from a horrifically hot (35C, in Majorca) road ride in the mountains, got back to the villa, hardly able to stand, sat in the shower and turned it on full crack, as cold as possible.

The most similar experience I’ve had to that was being given morphine.

Bensales- there is definitely a link with cold water alone, though I do find the combination of exercise and cold water is to be even better. I went body boarding in the sea on the Atlantic coast in Portugal in May this year. Not freezing but screamingly cold. All the surfers were in full length wetsuits, I was in my cozzie. It was amazing!

Good that you’ve found something that potentially might help vp. One of the things I learnt from CBT was about using distracting thoughts or sensations to move ones thinking away from negative, or ‘unhelpful’, thinking. It might be part of this..

I quite often turn the shower to cold for a couple of mins before getting out. It wakes me up! When I was traveling around NZ in a camper van several years ago I went for a dip in lots of rivers, awasome. I felt truly exhilarated after jumping in what must have been glacial melt water in Fjordland, jeesh that was cold.

Thawing out in the fetal position on the kitchen floor after 4 hours in mid winter on a motorbike was a wonderful experience. I’ve made sure I don’t experience it again, bit I don’t doubt your brain releases lots of interesting chemicals.

Two things in operation here. Exercise, which is a massive influence on anxiety and depression, but cold water has a calming influence also.

It’s a reflex action on entering water, especially cold, to slow the heart rate down dramatically which helps the body survive and perform under water for longer periods.

You can splash cold water on your face to get the same effect and is great at reducing anxiety symptoms. Doesn’t even have to be that cold.

Afterglow innit 🙂

[video]https://vimeo.com/eyesandearsfilms/afterglow[/video]

Worked for sick boy so it must be good!

I’m a big girls blouse under a freezing cold shower, but a few years back, I got weirdly addicted to dive bombing into the plunge pool at Longleat Center Parcs… I must have jumped in ~12 times during the pool session and it made me feel the most awake/alive I’ve felt in years, yet the cold was quickly replaced by a feeling of warmth each time I left the <10C water.

Wouldn’t recommend the prostitute first however

I’d be surprised if there was any causal link between reduced symptoms of depression and plunging into icy cold water. Though there is weak evidence for the effects of cold water and its role in post exercise recovery

I’d imagine for the open water swimming that it’s the being outdoors that makes the difference. Tough to do if you have depression and getting up is beyond you, let alone going outside.

A (very lazy) PubMed search turned up no real evidence : PubMed Depressive disorder and cold water

Though maybe this is one of those things that might be better looked for with some Text Mining as it might not have been the subject of decent clinical trials but might turn up in supplementary or anecdotal information.

Totally anecdotal and unrelated, but I’ll chip in – two colleagues started every day with a dip in the sea for a year Jan – Jan, and neither caught a cold or ‘flu all year. Being as we all work as teachers so get more exposure to nasties than many folk, I think it’s more than just placebo.

As with a lot of things, if it works for vicky or others, then that’s bloomin’ great. Thanks for sharing, going to experiment.

🙂

@prettygreenparrot- I’m going to have a look at the medical literature, but to be honest, I don’t expect to find much. I know this might sound cynical, but who would fund a clinical trial of cold water therapy when there’s no drug that someone can make money from? Lack of studies doesn’t mean there’s no causal link.

all the cold shower/water is doing is increasing the blood flow to counter the cold.

Exercise will have the same affect and release endorphins so bringing a lift to mood and pleasure

Parrot has it but if you’re feeling benefit then ultimately that’s all that matters.

[brilliant medical insights]

When I swim in a cold sea, for the first two minutes, my body gives me pain and discomfort, and shouts “get out of the cold thing!!!” in an effort to keep me alive.

After two minutes, my body says “Ah. You obviously can’t get out of the cold thing. In that case, I’m going to keep you all warm and fuzzy in an effort to keep you alive.”

Once I’m in that state, it feels wonderful, similar to the experience people say they feel when taking morphine or heroin. Add to that the ebb and flow of the waves, etc, and nothing beats it.

I expect a five-minute cold shower would deliver a similar physiological experience.

[/brilliant medical insights]

I think the cold water thing on that programme was about shocking the brain to allow a different response. The swimming (exercise) was then what was helping with the depression

Standing in a cold shower will just make you cold

My clinical reasoning here would be that many of the treatments used for chronic pain are also often very effective for depression- CBT, mindfulness, etc. A cold shower (or cryotherapy if you prefer! 😉 ) would definitely fit into that category. Equally I know a that a lot of people find a hot bath or shower also works for them- YMM, and frequently does, V- it’s all about finding what works best for you! 🙂

Standing in a cold shower will just make you cold

And wet.

I find ‘chewable’ drinking chocolate like Divine or the Sainsburys stuff in the cardboard black boxes can help a little bit, and bananas, and dark chocolate (though it’s ruining my teeth).

Chewable cocoa is great though, strong enough it can just about equal the hit from dark chocolate.

Whether you believe cold water helps with depressed mood or not, I can assure you it does not simply make you cold. It makes me feel euphoric, which means that there is more going on physiologically than just feeling cold. Don’t knock it. When you can’t take antidepressants, you look for other solutions.

The Mind website even suggests taking a cold shower or bath to help people cope with suicidal feelings.

I use a cryospa fairly regularly (maybe once a week). Ten minutes in 5 degree water is great for helping with aches and strains but it also has an incredible invigorating effect.

There’s definitely a release of adrenaline and probably plenty of other chemicals.

I have a feeling what you are experiencing is a significant load of endorphins. There most likely is a short-term dopamine boost from this but not sure it will last longer than the feeling one gets when you jump in the sea then go home and have a hot bath. Once the body warms up the stimulation for the endorphins is gone and you are probably neurologically back where you were. Not to say these types of activity don’t awaken the senses though. I still prefer hot showers 🙂

It’s got to be worth doing even for a short rush of feeling better.

Vicky, like you I think there’s is more to it. Unless people here are specialists in related areas – I would not imagine they can refute what you are experiencing. If it works for you that is brilliant.

It’s got to be worth doing even for a short rush of feeling better.

Quite, and I feel strongly that the benefits are likely to last longer than that too. Often with depression it is a matter of breaking the self perpetuating downward cycle- ie I feel bad, so I put off doing stuff, which makes me feel worse, so I cut myself off from those close to me, which makes me feel even worse still and so on. Anything that can turn this into an upward spiral- ie I currently feel good, so I’ll do those things I have been putting off, which will also make me feel better, so I get in contact with my friends/family, which makes me feel even beter still and so on, is a good thing. Obviously real life is never quite this simple but anything that’s helping you fight your corner is a thing worth doing, right?