Taking cold showers when hypomanic

IDK if this has been discussed before, but I wanted to bring it up. I've been taking cold showers for about half a year now, for various reasons, but firstly to counter depression. Regardless, I've noticed that when I'm really hypomanic and I take a cold shower, I go crazy with euphoria. Has anyone else experienced this?

I cant say that I have...but if it works go for it

it is a calming trick that u learned that works for u

a skeleton pocket watch does the same thing for me ..........pull it out hear the ticking feel it in my hand and watch the tiny gear works

skeleton means no face or backing plates to block your view of the clockworks

Sorry if I wasn't explicit enough, but taking cold showers escalates my hypomania and makes it even more manic.

I use contrasting t - a sauna and then a cold plunge and then back to the sauna. Unfortunately, I cannot (yet) fully submerge myself in the cold plunge.

Since high temperatures - a sauna, a steam bath, a hot salt room - calm racing thoughts, hypomania, and anxiety, it would not surprise me at all to hear that cold showers escalate your hypomania. Why would it be different, if I may ask? Cold showers are highly invigorating, so...? I guess my question is - why does it come as a surprise to you?

I guess I was just thinking that it was weird because they really don't help me when I'm in a really depressed mood. The only time I feel them is when I'm on a high.

PS I see that you are in Europe.

I am in California where the law caps the temperature of saunas so I cannot get heated enough - I cannot get the sauna to be as hot as you would expect it to be, say, in Finland.

The more t contrast, the better - and usually, after being in a really hot sauna, it is easier to take a cold plunge. But here it is impossible.

So you probably do not have such laws and thus you can reap the benefits of contrasting t by going to a place that has a sauna and a cold pool. Hopefully such places are not as expensive as they are here in California, where they are luxury establishments.

Another thing is that as far as I know, a cold plunge when your whole body is immersed in water is far more beneficial than a cold shower where your body is bombarded with cold sprinkling but is not submerged. If you cannot find a cold plunge, you can make your own bath into one - fill it with cold water at night and take a plunge first thing in the morning. Obviously, this is only safe if you do not have babies in the household.

Oh, I see. So when you are on a high, they propel you yet higher, but when you are low, they do not help at all?

Yeah, exactly

When I first began taking cold showers, there was this feeling of hypomania that occurred. Take note that this was before I became cognizant of my bipolarity. I thought it was just a normal response to being exposed to cold water, but I've since realized otherwise.

cold water is invigorating and if you need a little bravery to jump into a cold shower, then the feeling of accomplishment (you have conquered something) that follows is pleasant. So there are a physiological response plus a psychological satisfaction working in concert. At any rate, I think kaliope mentioned that, do whatever makes you feel the way you want to feel at a given moment, even if the mechanism of why it helps is hidden from you.

You probably know it, but just in case let me mention this - Korean steambaths, Finnish saunas, etc. all require that you drink lots of tea in the process. Otherwise they are not safe for you.

Its a tactic I use to calm my crazy *** down!

Particularly when charged up with SH urges or extreme irritability

Wow. I dislike cold water very much. Cold showers at a camp out concert was horrible to me and it was even in a shower house in upper 90 degree weather

Totally with you on this one.

Hmm that's quite interesting actually. You have me intrigued to see how I would react to one while hypomanic haha.

A couple of months ago I went on a school trip to an area where, among other things, we got to jump into near freezing (~44 degrees) water in a river. That really set me off; I couldn't stop talking about how great it was, how great I felt, how the soreness in my muscles just went away. My friends kind of looked at me oddly and tacitly told me to shut up.

I dislike cold water now as well, but it came with age. When I was younger, I liked it. But not anymore...

I once swam in a pond where the water was near freezing, in winter. I did not feel particularly happy or unhappy after it - it was more like "check the box - I did this on a dare (just challenging myself) and I won't do it again but I am glad I did it once".

But many people do feel euphoric after such swimming, so I do not see anything unusual in your response.