ENDING THE STIGMA: Taking the plunge: Benefits of cold exposure therapy

I was born with a water phobia. I’m aware of how strange that sounds given the “watery” womb and all. Prior to last November, I could count on one hand how many times I’ve been in the ocean since my dad carried me there. But last November, I started “polar plunging.”

I’d been watching the Wolf Pack plunge at Devereux Beach for months. But for years prior when I saw this behavior I’d say, “I would never do that. It’s just crazy! What possesses people?” Yet, the more I heal and grow, the more I am drawn to it. Not the water, but the idea of doing things I say I will never do. Also the title of Chapter 37 of my book, “The Box: An Invitation to Freedom from Anxiety” is Never Say Never Again. That’s when my anxiety points me towards exactly where I need to go next.

 The background

A mystery to my parents, it was the first sign of my brewing anxiety and panic as a young child. Even more mysterious were the triggers — water coming from above me, not below — like the shower, rain and car washes. My reaction was inconsolable PTSD-like hysterics. No one knows why but I believe it’s in my DNA.

How? My grandfather died serving as a firefighter. He was standing on the third floor of a burning building when the floorboards gave way and he plunged through to the basement and drowned in the waters that rained down from the fire hose torrents above.

As I matured, I learned to control my strong reactions through unavoidable exposure therapy. Meanwhile, I developed an adjacent fear of having my chest submerged in water. The pressure became reminiscent of my panic attacks — like a straitjacket cinching my core. And I became temperature sensitive — being too hot or cold would set off a panic attack. This kept me from the water for decades. Despite having overcome my disorders more recently, I still didn’t get wet, even in the summer. And even though the ocean is steps from my house.

But every week I’d watch the plungers commiserate, and the beach slowly empty as the plungers turned into small dots bobbing in the ocean. As my desire to be a person who did such a thing became bigger than my myriad of fears, I set my alarm clock one Thursday evening then drove to the beach at sunrise.

The benefits

PsychologyToday says “if there is really a global villain, it would have to be stress.” Yet research on hormetic stress reveals that, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” under certain conditions, even on the cellular level.

This molecular phenomenon is called “hormesis.” According to Mindbodygreen.com, “it’s the idea that short, intermittent bursts of certain stressors… can actually trigger a cascade of cellular processes that enhance overall health, slow aging and make you more resilient to future stress (both physical and mental).”

There are several ways to experience hormesis, like intermittent fasting, heat exposure, high intensity interval training and cold exposure, which has been shown to boost levels of certain immune cells that play a role in killing virally infected cells and cancer cells.

Research shows that cold exposure done regularly also causes the brain to produce norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that helps you gain better focus and attention and plays a role in regulating your emotions. It also decreases the production of inflammatory cytokines (linked to anxiety and depression), which supports the idea that cold exposure can be impactful to our mental health.

When we take a cold swim our surface vessels tighten, making blood move to the core to conserve heat. This “bathes the brain and vital organs in fresh blood”, helping to gently detoxify them according to PsychologyToday.com.

Hormesis is all about dosage. Too much of any of these activities can have a negative effect, like hypothermia.

The lessons

Beyond the cellular level, here are some lessons I learned in just the first six plunges:

Day 1 – First times suck! Don’t expect to dive right in. Just show up and observe. Dip your toe in, literally. Knowing this will be the hardest day and it gets WAY better. This will make it easier to come back.  

Day 2 – Things aren’t always as hard as they seem. You’ll go further than you probably thought you would.   

Day 3 – Don’t compare yourself to others. Your well-being and superhero training is not a competition. Remind your inner critic that your powers (and kryptonite) are unique to you.

Day 4 – Ignore the noise. A man walking his dog in 20-degree weather pointed at me with my two friends and said, “She cheated. She didn’t even get her head wet. Why’d you even come?” When you enter the arena, people will have opinions. I’d rather have courage.  

Day 5 – Go all in at least once, otherwise you’ll never know. When I finally dunked, it was exhilarating and scary and everything I’d hoped for.  

Day 6 – Living your best life is the best way to lead by example. Someone asked me just before I left for the beach why I would ever do something like this. “It’s crazy!,” they said. It was reminiscent of my own thoughts not long before. I replied, “When you start your day doing something you believed you would never be able to do, you feel limitless. Your reality and the way you show up in the world changes.” To which he said, “Maybe I’ll try it then.”

*Disclaimer: This is not medical advice and is informational only. Always do your own research and seek the advice of a medical professional before trying any new activity.

Wendy Tamis Robbins is an anxiety expert, bestselling author, well-being and transformational coach, attorney, speaker, cancer survivor, stepmom and wife. Learn more about her at wendytamisrobbins.com.