Cold Exposure Therapy?

[Bigbread]

There is a ton of compelling research about the benefits of exposure to cold (ice baths, cold showers, etc) on those who suffer from anxiety and depression. I'm interested - has anyone tried this? What have your results been? I decided I'd give it a go this morning with 5 minutes of cold in the shower. I turned the faucet as far to the cold setting as it would go and braced myself for the inevitable shock.... and I got something between lukewarm and cool in return! Who'd have thought that cold groundwater is hard to come by in Phoenix in the summer???

-mg

[nedd]

Works pretty well for chronic pain too. It gives the brain some other discomfort to content with for a bit.

[Anthese]

I used to take contrast showers for two months. I started two months after the initial period of anxiety attacks had began for me during which I would get lightheaded very easily. It helped. I was able to drive. I did 5 cycles of hot and reasonably cold water. 30 seconds hot water and 15 seconds cold water. Hot water exposure is twice as long as cold water one. I still do it two times a week.

Also when I visit sauna, after steam room i go straight to cold shower. Repeat three times.

[Bigbread in reply to Anthese]

Do you find it to be a “go to” option for you? I ask because I have so many tools to manage anxiety and I’m wondering if it’s helpful to focus on one technique rather than arsenal

[Anthese in reply to Bigbread]

I do not have an answer to this question, however something tells me that the more tools you have under your belt the better prepared you are.

I started taking metoprolol 25 mg a day at night, first week there was noticeable fatigue then it eased up a little bit. The symptoms became more rare, once a week.

I visited licensed clinical social worker, he gave a few suggestions how to manage the condition and wrote a list of books on anxiety.