Selena Gomez is treating her mental health problems with a bizarre ‘therapy’ that involves cold water and space heaters.
Following her breakdown in 2018 and her bipolar disorder diagnosis, the 32-year-old singer and actress has found her own methods of staying well.
In an interview with Vanity Fair on Monday she claimed she had ‘tools and protocols’ to take care of herself, which included using temperature as a ‘healing mechanism’.
Gomez, who has suffered with depression, anxiety and panic attacks, confessed she finds ‘cold water or space heaters to be soothing’.
It may sound strange but research has shown temperature, whether it’s an ice-cold plunge or a soothing warm bath, could be key to boosting your mood.
In an interview with Vanity Fair on Monday Selena Gomez claimed she had ‘tools and protocols’ to take care of herself, which included using temperature as a ‘healing mechanism’
Gomez, who has suffered with depression , anxiety and panic attacks, confessed she finds ‘cold water or space heaters to be soothing’
Despite not sounding pleasant, taking a cold plunge could in fact boost your mood.
Taking cold showers twice a week was found to significantly reduce symptoms of depression in a 2007 study by researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
Cold exposure is thought activate the nervous system and increase blood flow to the brain, which triggers the release of noradrenaline.
This neurotransmitter has been shown to have a positive effect on mood.
Some studies have also found a spike in dopamine after exposure to cold water, which is known as the pleasure hormone.
The anti-depressive effects of cold water exposure could also be, in part, caused by cold receptors in skin, notes a 2014 study on the effects of hydrotherapy.
These thermoreceptors — which detect heat and cold — send electrical impulses to the brain, which can trigger a pain-relieving effect, according to the researchers.
Cold exposure was found to relieve depression symptoms in a 2007 study by researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Some studies have also found a spike in dopamine after exposure to cold water, which is known as the pleasure hormone
Separately, a medical case report suggests open water swimming could even be recommended as a treatment for depression.
Professor Michael Tipton, an expert in physiology at the University of Portsmouth, detailed that a 24-year-old woman had been suffering from anxiety for years and then developed depression.
After a variety of medications didn’t work, she was told to swim in cold water once a week. ‘This led to an immediate improvement in mood following each swim and a sustained and gradual reduction in symptoms of depression,’ the medics wrote.
In a follow up a year later she remained medication free.
But it’s not just cold water that Gomez finds soothing, she also claims warmer temperature help her.
Selena Gomes confesses space heaters help her with her mental health and there is research to suggest this could actually work
While Gomez opts for ‘space heaters’ to help her deal with her mental health struggles, studies have also found warming up the body can have positive effects on mood.
One 2016 study by researchers from Wisconsin University, US, tested the theory on 24 patients with severe depression.
Researchers heated coils and placed them around the patients increasing their skin temperature to 38.3 degrees. They then turned the heat off and let the patients cool down for an hour.
The study revealed 60 per cent of the patients responded to the treatment, and 40 per cent met the criteria for remission from their depression after a single session.
Although the link between heat and depression is not fully understood, some experts believe high temperatures might play an important role in reducing inflammation.
Others say heat relaxes the body and slows down negative thoughts.
In another 2023 study, 12 adults with depression received eight weekly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions and four ‘heat sessions’ over this eight week period.
The heat sessions saw patients have their temperatures raised to 38.5 degrees Celsius — 1.5 degrees above the average temperature — in an infrared chamber.
Researchers observed the participants moods and found ‘negative thinking’ reduced in 20 per cent of cases.
At the end of the study 11 of the 12 adults also no longer met the threshold for major depressive disorder.
