A dip in cold water, and the post-operative pains are soothed. A cold shower in the morning, and the number of sick leaves are reduced. What if swimming in cold water could also treat depression? As part of the documentary series The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs (the doctor who gave up the drugs) from the BBC, a 24-year-old woman was filmed in a very specific setting: suffering from depression, she was prescribed a weekly swimming session in cold water by her doctor Christoffer van Tulleken. A somewhat unusual recommendation.
“It was a series that looked at our most prescribed drugs, especially when the evidence for their effectiveness had weaknesses”said at The Guardian Christoffer van Tulleken on The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs. The researcher at University College London continues: “Sarah had been on treatment for major depressive and anxiety disorder since she was 17, but her symptoms were resistant to first-line treatment and her medications made her feel like she was in a ‘chemical fog'”.
“Gradual reduction of symptoms of depression”
Sarah’s story formed the basis of a report published in the British Medical Journal, co-authored by Christoffer van Tulleken. The latter and his colleagues describe that when his daughter was born, Sarah wanted to be exempt from medication. Gradually reducing the doses, she begins a weekly program of swimming in open water, at a temperature of 15°C.
Four months after this unconventional treatment, she was no longer taking antidepressants and the symptoms of depression had ceased. “This led to an immediate improvement in mood after each swim and a sustained and progressive reduction in symptoms of depression, and consequently to a reduction and then discontinuation of medication”, validate the researchers. A year later, she still hasn’t taken it back.
Worldwide, 300 million people suffer from depression. And according to the doctor, the prescriptions for antidepressants are increasing. “In the real world, antidepressants are taken for many years”, he explains. He adds that “the largest analysis” on the effectiveness of these drugs, published in The Lancet, was carried out for only eight weeks. With this in mind, researchers are studying its alternatives.
The benefits of cold water
For many years, scientists were more concerned with the dangerous aspects than the beneficial side of cold water immersion. The shock of the latter with the skin immediately causes a drop in temperature, a rapid acceleration of breathing and heart rate, so that it can be dangerous for people suffering from certain diseases.
But on the other hand, it helps strengthen the immune system, reduce muscle inflammation, stimulate blood circulation, relax… “In theory, if you adapt to cold water, you also reduce your stress from other daily stresses, such as angry driving, exams or being fired at work”completes Christoffer van Tulleken.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of cold water immersion on a single control person is not enough to confirm its effects on depression. It could be a natural recovery, or it could be a placebo response. The researchers therefore stress the need for further research, to determine if and how cold water swimming might work with other patients.
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