It’s classic movie movement: The protagonist, newly born from a war or some bad news, sprays his face with cold water to calm down. Therapists tell Bustle that, while it may seem strange, the water spray technique is a believable trick you need to do for yourself to feel better. It’s called the “mammal diving response,” and if you’re miles away from a pool or the sea, you can do it from your toilet sink.
"Dipping the face in cold water is a technique to manage intense emotional arousal," Liz Kelly, a therapist with the Talkspace mental health platform, told Bustle. "It's the reason why we often like to dive into the water. The diving reflex triggers a host of calming reactions throughout the body, calming the nervous system."
She adds:
"When people experience the diving reflex, their parasympathetic nervous system is stimulated, the heart rate slows down and people feel calmer. It is the body 's effort to make sure you survive by being underwater, storing oxygen and slowing your beats. "It also makes the vessels in your skin narrow, carrying blood to your internal organs."
According to therapist Meaghan Rice, dipping the face in cold water also works because of the shock from the temperature change. She adds that "temperature, intense exercise, fast breathing and progressive muscle relaxation - that can help people in moments of strong anxiety or emotion".
If you are wondering about the right temperature to make yourself feel good, the answer is: The colder the water, the better.
The effect may seem simple, but it is used to help people in life-threatening situations. A 2017 study published in the American Journal of Physiology on people who had lost a lot of blood found that stimulating the mammalian diving reflex helped increase patients' blood pressure as the body sent blood to the heart, thinking it was underwater.
How to make it at home
To make the diving reflex work for you, fill a bowl or sink with cold running water. Take a deep breath, hold your breath and immerse your whole face in cold water until your eyes and cheekbones are submerged. Once you feel your heart rate drop, pull back.
If you have any health concerns or heart problems, consult your doctor first before trying it.
She recommends that if you have any health concerns or heart problems, check with your doctor before trying it.
Source: Bustle
