Selena Gomez is treating her mental health issues with a bizarre ‘therapy’ involving cold water and radiant heaters.
After her 2018 breakdown and diagnosis with bipolar disorder, the 32-year-old singer and actress has found her own methods to stay healthy.
In an interview with Vanity Fair On Monday, she claimed she had “tools and protocols” to care for herself, including using temperature as a “healing mechanism.”
Gomez, who suffers from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, admitted that she finds “cold water or radiant heaters soothing.”
It may sound strange, but research has shown that temperature, whether it’s an icy cold dip or a soothing warm bath, can be the key to improving your mood.
In an interview with Vanity Fair on Monday, Selena Gomez claimed she had “tools and protocols” to take care of herself, including using temperature as a “healing mechanism”
Gomez, who has suffered from depression, anxiety and panic attacks, admitted she finds ‘cold water or radiant heaters soothing’
Even though it may not sound very pleasant, a cold bath can improve your mood.
In 2007, it was discovered that exposure to cold alleviated symptoms of depression study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
It is thought that exposure to cold activates the nervous system and increases blood flow to the brain, causing the release of norepinephrine.
This neurotransmitter has been shown to have a positive effect on mood.
Some studies have also shown that there is a spike in dopamine after exposure to cold water. This hormone is known as the pleasure hormone.
The antidepressant effects of cold water exposure may also be partly mediated by cold receptors in the skin, a 2014 study found. study about the effects of hydrotherapy.
These thermoreceptors, which detect heat and cold, send electrical impulses to the brain, which can produce a pain-relieving effect, the researchers said.
A 2007 study by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine found that exposure to cold eases symptoms of depression
Some studies have also found a spike in dopamine after exposure to cold water, which is known as the pleasure hormone
In addition, a medical case report suggests that open water swimming could even be recommended as a treatment for depression.
Professor Michael Tipton, an expert in physiology at the University of Portsmouth, and colleagues described the story of a 24-year-old woman who had suffered from anxiety for years and then developed depression.
After several medications failed, she was told to swim in cold water once a week. “This led to an immediate improvement in her mood after each swim and a sustained and gradual reduction in symptoms of depression,” the medics wrote.
In a follow-up examination one year later, she remained medication-free.
But Gomez doesn’t just find cold water soothing, she claims a warmer temperature helps her, too.
Selena Gomes Confesses Space Heaters Help Her Mental Health And There’s Research To Suggest They Could Actually Work
While Gomez turns to “space heaters” to help with her mental health issues, studies have shown that warming up the body can also have positive effects on her mood.
In a 2016 study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in the US, the theory was tested on 24 patients with major depression.
Researchers heated coils and placed them around the patients, raising their body temperature to 101.5 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 the treatment and 40 percent met the criteria for remission of their depression after one session.
Although the link between heat and depression is not fully understood, some experts believe that high temperatures may play an important role in reducing inflammation.
Others claim that heat relaxes the body and slows down negative thoughts.
In another year 2023 study12 adults with depression received eight weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and four ‘heat sessions’ during this eight-week period.
During the heating sessions, the patients’ body temperature was raised to 38.5 degrees Celsius in an infrared chamber, 1.5 degrees above average human body temperature.
Researchers observed the participants’ moods and found that “negative thinking” was reduced in 20 percent of cases. At the end of the study, 11 of the 12 adults also no longer met the threshold for major depressive disorder.