Sauna and Steam Room Use May Help Depression

The dim lighting, the peace and quiet, the feeling of seclusion from the rest of the world—it is easy to understand why the sauna can be a relaxing respite from your daily struggles. But is the sauna merely effective way to relax or can it play a deeper role in treating and improving the lives of those struggling with chronic depression?

Can sauna use help treat depression? Studies show that raising your core body temperature, like you would in a sauna or steam room, is likely to lower the severity of depression. Exposure to high temperatures causes the brain to produce known anti-depressants like serotonin, norepinephrine, and endorphins, and to have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body.

People with depression often have slightly higher than normal core body temperatures. In fact, mental illnesses of many sorts seem to correlate with individuals whose bodies have trouble maintaining the proper body temperature.

It would seem that if you are depressed and have an elevated body temperature, then you would want to cool yourself down. Interestingly, it is just the opposite. Temporarily raising your body temperature will produce a compensatory cooling response. Thus, raising your body temperature in the short term will lower your body temperature in the long term.

High Temperatures Produce Beneficial Neurotransmitters and Hormones

When we get hot, very hot, the brain produces neurotransmitters and hormones that have anti-depressive effects.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, which contributes to happiness and well-being. The high temperature exposure that you get in a sauna or steam room activates neurons in your brain, causing them to synthesize and release serotonin.

Norepinephrine is a hormone that helps with focus and attention. People who suffer from depression usually have lower than normal levels of norepinephrine in the brain. Sauna use increases the availability of norepinephrine in two ways. First, it promotes the production of norepinephrine. Secondly, it promotes the storage of norepinephrine, making more of it available, even long after the sauna session is over.

Endorphins are the feel-good hormones, which are often caused by exercise and are responsible for what is commonly known as a “runners high.” Sitting in a hot sauna can have a similar effect, causing your body to become more sensitive to and affected by endorphins.

When your body experiences the heat stress of a sauna, the brain begins to produce dynorphins, which cause a feeling of discomfort and help your body to cool down. To counteract this, your brain also starts to make more endorphin receptors, which lessens the feeling of discomfort and amplifies the good feeling effects of the endorphins in your brain. Importantly, when you leave the sauna, the dynorphins subside, but the endorphin receptors persist, causing a lasting feeling of well-being.

Heat Stress has an Anti-Inflammatory Effect on the Body

Inflammation is the body’s way of activating the immune system. If you have an infection or injury, inflammation is usually a beneficial part of the healing process. However, experiencing inflammation when you are not sick or injured can have a profoundly detrimental effect on your health.

Research shows a clear relationship between inflammation and depression. Many depressed people have elevated levels of inflammation and people who are experiencing inflammation often feel depressed. People who suffer from chronic inflammation are more likely to experience bouts of major depression. It follows then that a key to reducing depression is reducing inflammation.

Exposure to the high temperatures found in a sauna or steam room will produce an anti-inflammatory response by activating compensatory systems in the body. The exposure to high temperature causes heat stress in the body that initially causes inflammation. This, however, triggers a compensatory anti-inflammatory response in the body. These systems, which promote anti-inflammation, last longer and the net result is to reduce inflammation in the body.

Anti-Depressant Effects are Persistent

A 2016 study of individuals meeting the criteria for major depressive disorder suggests that a single session in a sauna or steam room can produce a significant and measurable antidepressant effect for a period of at least six weeks.

What this tells us is that while regular daily or weekly use of the sauna may be the best way to reduce depression, even sporadic or occasional use of a sauna could cause profound benefits. Even if you don’t have a home sauna or a membership to a gym with a steam room, you can still benefit by treating yourself to a session at the local spa.

Scientific Studies of Heat Therapy on Depression

In a 2017 study, scientists studied the effects of hot water baths on individuals with moderate depression. The participants were placed in baths heated to 140°F for 20 to 30 minutes. The baths were effective at raising core temperature to approximately 102°F. The study found significant improvement in the participants subjected to the hot water baths when compared to a control group. Source.

In a 2016 study, scientists studied the effects of a machine called a “whole-body hyperthermia system” on individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder. The whole body-hyperthermia system uses infrared heat radiation to raise the body’s core temperature. (It’s basically an infrared sauna.) The study found that a single session significantly reduced the severity of depression suffered by the study’s participants and that this improvement persisted for six weeks after the treatment. Source.

In a 2005 study, scientists studied 28 individuals with mild depression who were experiencing general fatigue, appetite loss, somatic and mental disorders. One group of 14 individuals was given 5 infrared sauna sessions per week at 140°F for four consecutive weeks (20 treatments total). The other 14 individuals were used as a control group. The group receiving infrared heat treatments made fewer somatic and mental complaints, reported feeling more relaxed, and had improved appetites in comparison to the individuals in the control group. Source.

Increasing Body Temperature is the Key (It Doesn’t Matter How You Do It)

Is an infrared sauna better for depression than a traditional sauna? What about a steam room?

Dr. Charles Raison, who conducted the whole-body hyperthermia study, emphasized in an interview with Dr. Rhonda Patrick that any method that raises body temperature should produce the desired anti-depressant effects. It does not matter if you use a traditional sauna, an infrared sauna or a steam room. Steam showers, hot baths, even hot yoga should all yield beneficial results.

The reason many experiments are done with infrared heat is because it tends to be a more comfortable way of raising core body temperature. People are usually able to stay in an infrared sauna for a longer period of time than they can use a traditional sauna or steam room.

For this reason, if you find traditional saunas or steam rooms to be uncomfortably hot or you find it difficult to remain in a traditional sauna or steam room for a full 15 to 20 minutes, your best bet may be to try an infrared sauna.