Scientists have identified a relationship between body temperature and depression: a hot bath is contraindicated

Skeptics believe that global research into this theory is needed

Several studies have found a link between depressive symptoms and body temperature, but their small sample sizes leave too much room for doubt. Participants from 106 countries responded to the survey, and it was confirmed that higher body temperature causes mental illness or that depression causes the body to heat up.

Researchers led by a team from the University of California, San Francisco, analyzed data from 20,880 people collected over seven months. Based on the data, they confirmed that people with depression tend to have higher body temperatures. The study was published in Scientific Reports.

If something as simple as maintaining a normal body temperature can help manage symptoms of depression, it could potentially change the lives of millions of people around the world.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest study to date examining the association between body temperature, assessed using both self-report methods and wearable sensors, and depressive symptoms in a geographically broad sample,” says UC psychiatrist Ashley Mason.

The researchers said there could be several reasons for this connection. It is possible that depression is associated with metabolic processes that produce extra heat, or with biological cooling functions that are disrupted in the disorder.

“We now know that depression is a complex and multifaceted condition, likely with many different triggers, and body temperature may play a role,” the report authors noted.

Previous studies have shown that hot baths and saunas can reduce symptoms of depression, although in small sample groups. It is possible that self-cooling caused by sweating also has a mental effect.

“Ironically, warming people up can actually cause a sharp drop in body temperature that lasts longer than simply cooling people down directly, such as with an ice bath,” says Ashley Mason. “What if we could track body temperature?” people with depression to correctly time thermal procedures?”

The data showed that as participants’ self-reported depressive symptoms became more severe, mean body temperatures increased. There was also some association between higher depression scores and lower daily temperature fluctuations, but not to a statistically significant level.

It is believed that about 5 percent of people worldwide suffer from depression, so efforts to understand it and effectively treat it are more important now than ever. Each new discovery gives more hope for solving the problem.