Selena Gomez is treating her mental health issues with a bizarre “therapy” involving cold water and space heaters.
Following her nervous breakdown in 2018 and her diagnosis with bipolar disorder, the 32-year-old singer and actress has found her own methods to stay well.
In an interview with Vanity Fair On Monday, he said he had “tools and protocols” in place to take care of himself, including using temperature as a “healing mechanism.”
Gomez, who has suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, said she finds “cold water or space heaters relaxing.”
It may sound strange, but research has shown that temperature – whether it’s an ice-cold dip or a relaxing warm bath – could be key to improving your mood.
In an interview with Vanity Fair on Monday, Selena Gomez said she had “tools and protocols” in place to take care of herself, including using temperature as a “healing mechanism.”
Gomez, who has suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, said she finds “cold water or space heaters relaxing.”
Although it may not sound pleasant, taking a cold bath could improve your mood.
In fact, in 2007 it was discovered that exposure to cold alleviated symptoms of depression. study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Exposure to cold is thought to activate the nervous system and increase blood flow to the brain, triggering the release of norepinephrine.
This neurotransmitter has been shown to have a positive effect on mood.
Some studies have also found an increase in dopamine after exposure to cold water, known as the pleasure hormone.
The antidepressant effects of cold water exposure may also be caused, in part, by cold receptors in the skin, a 2014 study notes. study On the effects of hydrotherapy.
These thermoreceptors, which detect heat and cold, send electrical impulses to the brain, which can trigger an analgesic effect, according to the researchers.
A 2007 study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine found that exposure to cold relieves symptoms of depression.
Some studies have also found an increase in dopamine after exposure to cold water, which is known as the pleasure hormone.
Furthermore, a medical case report suggests that open water swimming could even be recommended as a treatment for depression.
Professor Michael Tipton, a physiologist at the University of Portsmouth, and his colleagues detailed how a 24-year-old woman had been suffering from anxiety for years and then developed depression.
After several medications failed to work, she was advised to swim in cold water once a week. “This produced an immediate improvement in her mood after each swim and a gradual and sustained reduction in her depressive symptoms,” the doctors wrote.
In a follow-up carried out one year later, he remained without medication.
But it’s not just the cold water that Gomez finds relaxing, she also claims that warmer temperatures help her.
Selena Gomez confesses that space heaters help her with her mental health and there is research that suggests this could actually work
While Gomez opts to use “space heaters” to help her deal with her mental health issues, studies have also found that warming up the body can have positive effects on mood, too.
A 2016 study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in the US tested the theory on 24 patients with severe depression.
The researchers heated coils and placed them around the patients, raising their body temperature to 38.3 degrees. They then turned off the heat and let the patients cool down for an hour.
The study found that 60 percent of patients responded to treatment and 40 percent met criteria for remission from their depression after just one session.
Although the link between heat and depression is not fully understood, some experts believe that high temperatures may play a role in reducing inflammation.
Others say that heat relaxes the body and slows down negative thoughts.
In another 2023 studyTwelve adults with depression received eight weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and four “heat sessions” during this eight-week period.
In the heat sessions, patients had their body temperature raised to 38.5 degrees Celsius (1.5 degrees above the average human body temperature) in an infrared chamber.
The researchers monitored the participants’ mood and found that “negative thoughts” were reduced in 20 percent of cases. By the end of the study, 11 of the 12 adults no longer met the threshold for major depressive disorder.
