Selena Gomez is using cold water and space heaters as a strange form of “therapy” to deal with her mental health issues.

The 32-year-old singer and actress has found ways to stay well since her breakdown in 2018 and being diagnosed with bipolar illness.

In an interview with Vanity Fair on Monday, she said that she took care of herself with “tools and protocols,” such as using heat as a “healing mechanism.” 

The singer, who has had sadness, anxiety, and panic attacks, said that “cold water or space heaters are soothing” to her.

That may sound strange, but studies have shown that the temperature of the water, whether it’s a very cold dip or a warm bath, can help improve your mood. 

Even though it doesn’t sound fun, taking a cold plunge might make you feel better.

A study from 2007 at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine found that taking cold showers twice a week made depressive symptoms a lot better.

It is thought that being exposed to cold activates the nervous system and boosts blood flow to the brain, which causes noradrenaline to be released. 

It has been shown that this chemical makes people feel better.

One study also found that being in cold water caused a rise in dopamine, which is known as the “happiness hormone.”

Researchers who looked at the effects of hydrotherapy in 2014 said that the effects of cold water on depression might also be caused in part by cold sensors in the skin.

Researchers say that these thermoreceptors, which can tell the difference between hot and cold, send electrical messages to the brain that can make pain go away.

On a separate note, a medical case study says that swimming in open water could even be suggested as a way to treat depression.

A physiology professor at the University of Portsmouth named Professor Michael Tipton explained that a 24-year-old woman had been dealing with worry for years and then became depressed.

After several different medicines didn’t help, she was told to swim once a week in cold water. “After each swim, this made me feel better right away, and over time, my depressive symptoms got better too,” the doctors wrote.

At the follow-up a year later, she was still not taking any medications.  

It’s not just cold water that calms Gomez down, though. She says warmer water also helps her. 

Study after study has shown that warming up the body can improve happiness. Gomez uses “space heaters” to help her deal with her mental health problems. 

In 2016, researchers from Wisconsin University in the US tried the idea on 24 people who were very depressed.

Researchers heated coils and wrapped them around the patients, which raised the warmth of their skin to 38.3 degrees. After that, they turned off the heat and gave the patients an hour to cool down. 

It was found that 60% of the patients reacted to the treatment and 40% were no longer depressed after just one session in the study. 

Not all experts agree on what the link is between heat and sadness, but some think that high temperatures may play a big role in lowering inflammation.

Some people say that heat calms the body and makes bad thoughts go more slowly. 

Twelve depressed people took part in another study in 2023. They had eight weekly cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) sessions and four “heat sessions” during that time. 

People who were in the heat sessions had their bodies heated in an infrared room to 38.5 degrees Celsius, which is 1.5 degrees above the normal temperature. 

Researchers watched the participants’ emotions and found that 20% of the time, “negative thinking” went away.

 Eleven of the twelve people who were in the study no longer met the criteria for major depressive disorder by the end of it.