To want to shout this tip for anxiety/mental health from the rooftops?

[BornToBeStyled]

Cold showers. Within a lifetime of problematic anxiety, I can't believe it's taken me this long (to my mid 40s) to discover them. Actual game changer.

If you have trouble with anxiety and panic, and haven't already tried cold showers, try them. A cold shower can bring me back from crisis point to feeling quite fine in about 2 minutes, sometimes. The effects can last for hours. And when they wear off... you can have another.

AIBU to think GPs should give this as an intervention before drugs?!

It is part of the TIPP skill in DBT.

T stands for temperature.

Am glad you found something that works for you, and yes you are right... GP's should be tell people about this sort of thing... but sadly some people get offended by being "fobbed off" with self help stuff.

I tried a cold water bath this week at a spa day and it had a really similar impact. Apparently it generates very high levels of dopamine as a side effect.

I've heard cold water on your face. Does this apply to a bath as well?

OK in the heat maybe, couldn't see many ppl braving a cold bath or shower in the winter though too cold.
It's good you have found something that works for you.

Cold water is extraordinary. I love outdoor swimming (though I admit to using a wetsuit). I cannot stay angry or glum when I swim outdoors, and, as you say, the effects last for hours. I don't find cod showers as exhilarating, but they are definitely worth the effort.

Do you go straight into a cold blast? I can't - I always start off warm and then gradually turn the temperature down until I'm gasping.

It’s brilliant and if you find the full shower hard, running the cold water over the back of your neck can also work really well. I also find breathwork very good for anxiety either 4-7-8 or physiological sighing

Really glad you've found something that works for you and is easily accessible.

I had heard about the benefits of cold water and mood when open water swimming became a big thing during the pandemic. I guess it's the same theory as said above about dopamine?

This helps me too. Although splashing cold water on my face is what I have as a substitute when at work. I find a cool shower- where the water is not cold but just shy of lukewarm works best for me. I think part of the reason a shower works is that no one is going to interrupt me and so I feel I have complete privacy which helps me calm down.

I'm about to have a shower and am really anxious, so I will try this!
I've found a high dose of vitamin D helps too.

A few years ago I had multiple eye surgeries; one occasion I was awake and the anaesthetic didn’t quite work, so I felt everything and was too afraid to move so I started spiralling into anxiety, and managed to get through half an hour or more with concentrating on my breathing.

I did 3, 4, 5; breathe in for 3 seconds, hold for 4 and out for 5.

i would have previously fallen into the cynical group that cold water, breathing, food & nutrition etc are all a bit woo, but I think techniques like this can make a huge difference

My health anxiety would convince me that I would die of hypothermia or go into cardiac arrest if I tried this 🤣

I really hate cold water & is a trigger for me. What works for one person might not work for another.

Someone might find warm baths help some cold water. Some people a cup of tea but some hate tea.

Glad it works for you but don't think shouting out you've found a cure is helpful. It's more arrogant & patronizing.

Ive found things that work for me but understand they won't work for everyone.

at no point has OP referred to it as a cure, though? Nor did they guarantee it would help everyone.
They said it was a "tip" and suggested people try it.
You've read into something that was not there and taken offense for no reason.
OP suggested something that might help others, why jump on that?

Quite agree, the OP is just suggesting people could try it if they haven’t before. there is a scientific basis to using cold water to stimulate the vagus nerve and activate the parasympathetic nervous system to give a calming effect. The breathing techniques mentioned also do the same thing

What a spiteful, nasty response.
Way to piss on someone's chips.

Can you report back on results? I tried cold showering only once, I really hate it but sort of think I could get to like it and certainly would benefit from it. So I need encouragement!
Thank you.

It really does work.

I read that the cold water increases dopamine availability by up to 200%.

I think it's often referred to as the Wimhoff technique.

At no point did OP say it was a cure. They said to try it and see if it helps. Some will find it beneficial, some won’t. But coming on to berate someone with a MH who is actively trying to pass on a tip that has worked for them isn’t helpful. Or kind.

Yes, cold showers and ice baths sometimes pull me down from high anxiety states.

Yes, most SSRIs and other antidepressant drugs are either useless or harmful for most people in the long term.

But we are all different physiologically and psychologically.

It's great you want to share what has worked so well for you.

That feeling of revelation is amazing.

But do remember that you, your abilities and capabilities, psychological make up, physiology and personal circumstances are different from every other individual around you, and what works well for you won't necessarily work for other people.

And it can put people off if you are too preachy/excited even if it's well meant.

I am so happy for you that you have found natural strategies that work so well.

I read recently about putting iced peas on the side of your neck to quell anxiety.

I tried it (though with a block of ice thing in plastic, wrapped in a damp tea towel) and was amazed that it worked. I was verging on a panic attack before I did it. Works by affecting your vagus nerve.

Can't say I would ever fancy a whole cold shower, though I guess needs must!

I'm really happy for you that you've found something that works for you but YABU about doctors recommending it to patients. Hydrotherapy was a popular treatment for psychiatric disorders from the early twentieth century til about the 1950s. They don't do it anymore for good reasons, mainly there's no actual evidence for how/ why it's effective on some people and also, it doesn't have the same effect on everyone.

Cold showers, dunking your face in ice water etc, is already recommended as a way to reduce distress.

Have a Google for the TIPP skills.

You are right in that it does not work for everyone (it does not for me), but OP is simply saying to give it a try if you have not done so before.

Neither do antidepressants, on both counts

I find that if I'm not already up for it, if I have a hot/warm shower I can handle an icy blast for 2 mins at the end. Entry level!

There's enough evidence that antidepressants are effective for them to be prescribed to patients, not true for cold water.

Tipp is part of DBT which was developed for a specific purpose. A GP isn't going to suggest techniques like that to patients with mild to moderate general anxiety.

I agree. It really works for me. I do it year round, as well as cold water swimming.