Ice baths for emotional and mental wellbeing
How cold water can help with emotional and mental wellbeing is the founding reason Brass Monkey exists. The transformative power of cold water has been used for thousands of years to treat mind and body, a tradition that continues in our cold water community today.
How cold water boosts dopamine levels
Cold water therapy delivers up to a 250% boost in dopamine, which doesn’t diminish over time. Dopamine is the body’s powerful reward hormone that makes us feel incredible and gives us the drive to want to ‘do it again.’
Cold Water Therapy and its Impact on Mental Health
Cold water therapy offers promising relief for anxiety and depression by triggering powerful brain chemistry changes. Discover how this ancient practice creates modern mental health benefits through science-backed mechanisms that reset your nervous system, release natural mood boosters, and reduce inflammation naturally.
Ice baths and depression management
Exposure to extremely cold water spikes a vast increase in Norepinephrine production. A consistent 200-530% rise that doesn’t diminish over time. This is a neurotransmitter, often found in very low concentrations in someone with depressive symptoms helping to regulate focus and energy levels compromised with depression.
Our guides on ice baths and the cold for emotional and mental wellbeing
Stories from our community
Our clients turn to the cold for many different reasons. We dive intotheir personal stories, exploring the struggles and triumphs, and discover how the cold supports them.
Ice baths and the worlds strongest men
According the Tom and Luke Stoltman, it’s no coincidence that they’ve won more titles since using their Brass Monkey ice bath. With multiple World’s Strongest Man and Europe’s Strongest Man titles between them, they use their ice bath to enhance both their mental and physical performance. They use it for recovery, but it also helps Tom manage his ADHD, bringing him calm in the stillness of the extreme cold. For Luke it energises him, leaving his body fizzing and his mind with a laser focus. Watch their story and learn how the world’s strongest men build even stronger minds.
Pete Doherty on mental wellbeing
From the Libertines front man to the man we see in front of us, he is unrecognisable. Sitting in his garden at home wearing a Dry Robe, his wellness team surrounds us. We witness a sound bath followed by an ice bath. The reflection and calm they give him now serve as his source of inspiration for his music, poetry and art, over the chaos that came hand in hand with heroin addiction.
Paul Mort on ice baths and Bi-Polar disorder
Today Paul is a men’s performance coach with a huge leaning on mental health and its affect on success. “You will never outperform the way that you feel, so your business will only be at the level of your own mindset.” Listen to his story of transformation.
Ice baths for ADHD and anxiety
Olympic Ice swimmer, Fenwick Ridley, hasn’t always been so strong. Fenwick uses the cold is a reset button, helping him to manage his ADHD and anxiety daily. He embraces the challenge because he understands the powerful mental, physical and emotional changes waiting for him on the other side of every dip.
Wild swimming for emotional wellbeing
Once an average middle aged man drifting through life, Les discovered connection and unexpected confidence through wild swimming's transformative power. In the water's magic, he found mental clarity and emotional weightlessness that now allows him to guide others toward inner strength, present-moment awareness, and newfound courage.
Healing in the Cold: Professor Green's Journey
After battling severe gastroparesis and deteriorating mental health, Stephen Manderson discovered cold water immersion's transformative power. Despite rarely looking forward to the ice bath, he returns because “nothing makes me consistently feel THAT good and it still has the positive effects every f*cking time I do it”.
Brass Monkey Founder, Dan’s personal journey with cold water
During the pandemic pause, I confronted my growing unhappiness and knew change was essential for my family and mental health. After discovering cold therapy through Wim Hof training and creating my first makeshift ice bath out of a chest freezer, I founded Brass Monkey to make this powerful mental health tool accessible to everyone.
Learn more about resilience in our guide to deliberate cold exposure.
Master your mental, emotional and physical health with our one-stop guide to deliberate cold exposure. Get the science behind the benefits, discover why it’s so good for you and how to get started.
We make the worlds finest ice baths
The ice has the power to change us for the better. Make us stronger. More resilient. More in control. That is why we build the world’s finest ice baths and cold plunges.
FAQs
does cold water really help with emotional and mental wellbeing?
Cold water immersion (CWI) influences the body's neurochemical landscape, leading to various mental health benefits. Here's how specific chemicals released during CWI align with mood enhancement, stress reduction, and improved sleep and focus:
Mood Enhancement:
Endorphins: Exposure to cold water stimulates the release of endorphins, natural painkillers that induce feelings of euphoria and wellbeing, thereby improving mood and reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Norepinephrine (Noradrenaline): Cold water immersion increases norepinephrine levels, a neurotransmitter that enhances alertness and mood, contributing to reduced depression and anxiety symptoms.
Dopamine: Cold exposure has been shown to elevate dopamine levels (up to 250%), a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, leading to improved mood and increased motivation.
Stress Reduction:
Cortisol: Regular cold water immersion may lead to decreased cortisol levels the hormone associated with stress, promoting relaxation and enhancing resilience to stress through activation of the sympathetic and para sympathetic nervous system.
Improved Sleep and Focus:
Norepinephrine: Beyond mood enhancement, increased norepinephrine levels (up to 530%) from cold exposure can improve attention and focus, contributing to better cognitive performance.
Explore our A beginners guide to ice baths with expert cold water therapy practitioner Daniel Kluken. We teamed up to bring you a suite of guides full of tips and advice on everything from preparation for the cold and breathing techniques to fully guided cold dips to follow at home or wherever you dip.