Depression is one of the leading causes of disability in the world. It is a mood disorder which affects approximately 10% of Australians. Medical researchers don't know exactly what causes depression however, it is believed to be combination of things including long term difficulties, serious medical issues, trauma, personality, genetics and drug and alcohol use. Regardless of the cause, depression is unlikely to go away on its own. Treatment usually relies on medication, psychological intervention and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Due to the side effects of medication, there are more people looking toward natural alternatives.
There is a theory that overtime through evolution, humans lack a lifestyle where physiological stressors that primates were previously exposed to are experienced (e.g. changes in body temperature experienced from a cold swim). This proposes the theory that a reduction in 'thermal exercise' may cause inadequate functioning of the brain. The second thought, is that our genetic makeup predisposes some people to this phenomenon more than others.
Exposing our body to the cold has a range of health benefits which may include reducing swelling, inflammation and muscle soreness, improving sleep hygiene, attention and strengthening of the immune system.
Recent evidence has also investigated the impact that cold therapy may have on our mood and symptoms of depression.
The sympathetic nervous system is activated when our body is exposed to the cold. Exposure to cold also increases the amount of beta-endorphin and noradrenaline in the blood, both of which have an impact on our mood. Our skin has a high density of cold receptors. By exposing our skin to the cold, our body receives an influx of impulses from peripheral nerve endings to the brain. According to research from the Journal of Medical Hypotheses, this could also result in an anti-depressive effect.
As well as a positive impact on depression, cold therapy was also found to have a significant analgesic effect according the the Journal of Medical Hypotheses. An advantage of cold therapy over traditional medicinal management tools for pain management is that it does not appear to have noticeable side effects or cause dependence. For many Australians, chronic pain and depression are inevitably linked. This therefore provides another avenue to support the use of cold therapy as a tool to help stabilise your mood.
Cold therapy involves briefly exposing our skin to cold temperatures. Depending on the context, this may include using an ice a cold shower, an ice bath or whole body cryotherapy session.
In order the optimise benefits for mood stabilisation, exposure to the cold needs to occur to the entire body rather than an isolated place e.g. ice pack. An ice bath or cryotherapy session will provide the required level of skin exposure. Whole Body Cryotherapy is subjectively more tolerable than an ice bath as it is a gradual reduction in temperature and is a dry cold. Many people liken it to a cold spray tan or a cool room at the bottle shop. Conversely, an ice bath is wet and often provides a 'shock' to the system making it less tolerable. A single whole body cryotherapy session is 3 minutes long where as the recommended timeframe for an ice bath session ranges from 6-8minutes.
Regardless of your preference, according to recent studies, cold therapy is providing some promising results for mood stabilisation and the management of depression.
we address the cause of your pain, not just the symptom. we address the cause of your pain, not just the symptom.