Sauna: can it help depression

In 2016, a fascinating study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.

It showed that just a single session of whole-body hyperthermia, raising your core body temperature to mimic a fever, reduced depressive symptoms for up to six weeks.

Yes, six weeks. This was not medication. Not therapy. Just heat.

So, what exactly is going on?

When you sit in a sauna, your body temperature rises. The heat triggers the release of heat shock proteins.

These special proteins protect your cells from stress and help regulate inflammation. Inflammation is one of the core factors that causes depression.

Using a sauna increases the release of endorphins and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth and survival of neurons.

But perhaps most importantly, heat activates the same neural pathways that antidepressants do. Without the side effects.

Infrared or traditional saunas also induce a deep parasympathetic state. Your heart rate rises, blood vessels dilate, and you begin to sweat.

But inside, your body relaxes. Your cortisol levels drop. Sleep improves. You feel calmer.

We think of depression as something in the mind. But the mind and body are one system.

What happens to one affects the other.

It is not for nothing that for thousands of years we have had hot baths in Japan, sweat lodges in Native American rituals, and the hammams of the Middle East.

Heat heals.Modern science is catching up.

In a world where more and more people are struggling with depression, maybe the answer is not always more pills.

Sometimes, supplementing with tried and testing healing tools that we have been using for thousands of years can be a great addition to your toolkit.

A word of caution. Depression is a word thrown around causually. I am not suggestion that sauna by itself can cure someone of clinical depression.

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain