When we get distressed, it can be challenging to help ourselves in that moment and to regulate our distress. Cold showers are fast becoming a way that people are helping themselves to cope with intense feelings of distress. So what’s all the rage with cold showers? We know it seems outlandish to be thinking about taking a cold shower, especially with winter fast approaching, but they work! And here’s why…
In the 90’s, Dr Stephen Porges, a Professor at Indiana University and the University of North Carolina, founded what he calls the “Poly-Vagal” Theory in explaining how the fight/flight/freeze response works and what we can do to regulate it once it’s activated. Dr Porges summarised three states of arousal: one where we totally shut down (i.e., freeze), one where we feel like we need to do something (i.e., fight or flight), and one where we are completely engaged in the world around us (i.e., social engagement).
More specifically, the freeze response is regulated by what he calls our dorsal vagal state, which is our emergency state. We tend to freeze when things get really intense. This means that we are completely shut down, we can feel hopeless and feel like there’s no way out. We tend to feel depressed, conserve energy, dissociate, feel overwhelmed, and feel like we can’t move forward. Physiologically, our fuel storage and insulin activity increases, and our pain thresholds increase.
Second to this, our fight/flight response is a response from the sympathetic nervous system. When we are in fight mode we can experience anger, rage, irritation, and frustration. If we are in flight mode, we can experience anxiety, worry, fear, and panic. Physiologically, our blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline increase, and our digestion decreases, as does our pain threshold, and immune responses.
The third state, “social engagement”, is how we want to be a lot of the time. It’s a state of being that is regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system and is also known as the ventral vagal state. It is our state of safety and homeostasis. If we are in our ventral vagal state, we are grounded, mindful, joyful, curious, empathetic, and compassionate. This is the state of social engagement, where we are connected to ourselves and the world. Physiologically, when we are in this state, our digestion, resistance to infection, blood circulation, immune responses, and our ability to connect is greatly improved. This is where cold showers come in because what they reportedly do is help strengthen our Vagus nerve which can help us stay in a state of social engagement.
What is the Vagus Nerve?
The Vagus nerve is actually a bundle of nerves leading from the gut through the heart and to the brain. It’s the longest cranial nerve and has communication with every organ. It’s main function is to power the parasympathetic nervous system. The parasympathetic nervous system plays a role in regulating our heart rate, sexual arousal, and gastrointestinal activity. The Vagus nerve also works tirelessly to control inflammation. It alerts the brain to release neurotransmitters when inflammatory proteins called cytokines are present. These neurotransmitters help the body repair then reduce inflammation.
Another function of the Vagus nerve is to trigger the release of acetylcholine which controls muscles, dilates blood vessels, and slows down our heart rate. It is this very nerve that is stimulated during deep diaphragm breathing to help regulate our breath and heart rate.
Cold Showers and the Vagus Nerve
Cold showers are tough at first, but they can greatly improve the function of our Vagus nerve. How? Because when you have a cold shower, the initial shock of the cold water (better to start off with the water on your back first), will make you take a short sharp breath in, and you will have an initial reaction to want to get out of there or to tense your muscles. As you deliberately take a long slow exhale, and relax your muscles, you start to adjust to the cold. When this happens, the sympathetic nervous system slows down, and the parasympathetic system takes over, directly affecting the Vagus nerve. It’s important to keep your breath steady when being exposed to the cold water to keep the parasympathetic system working. This is difficult to do however with practice what you will notice is that other neurochemicals will also be released such as endorphins that will have a lasting positive impact. You don’t have to have a cold shower for very long. Thirty seconds to 1 minute of a cold shower is ample enough time. It could also be a good idea to leave the last 30-seconds to 1 minute of your regular shower to adjust the temperature to cold water as a way of practicing the art of taking cold showers more consistently to help manage Depression and Anxiety.
For more information and guidance on treating depression and anxiety please give our team a call to arrange an appointment on (03) 9882-8874.
This blog was written and prepared by Dr Celin Gelgec – Clinical Psychologist and Director here at MWG.