Well established within the diving community for some time.

As I wrote about a little while ago, I spent some time in the hospital recently for treatment of depression and anxiety. While I was a patient in the Crisis Stabilization Unit at the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, Alberta, I was able to participate in some group therapy sessions, which usually involve some aspect of either Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). I was there for a group where we learned about a technique to treat anxiety that had recently been gaining favour within the circles of mental health treatment.

ICE therapy.

I also referred to it as DIVE therapy, because it involves a natural physiological response that exists in all mammals known as the “dive reflex”. As with other mammals, we need to breathe air to live, and so whenever we dive into the water the brain triggers the dive reflex, which in turn acts to conserve as much oxygen while we are below the surface. It causes both respiration and heart rate to slow down having an almost instantaneous calming effect, and has been something that has been known among divers for quite some time.

How to make your brain think that you are diving.

To replicate this, all you need is something cold like some ice cubes in a ziplock bag or a cold pack that’s been in the freezer. First, find a place to make yourself comfortable and take a minute or two to regulate your breathing, taking deep breaths in and slowly exhaling. Then take a deep breath and hold it, while holding the bag of ice over your eyes and lowering your head. Hold your breath for 20-30 seconds, then take the bag away from your eyes and exhale.

I did this a couple of days after learning about it after experiencing an episode of major anxiety on the unit which left me near raging and physically shaking. I asked for a bag of ice and did the above twice as well as doing it once while holding the ice on the back of my neck.

To my utter amazement, I had actually stopped shaking and I found myself to be a great deal calmer. It blew my mind. So much so, that I wanted to share this so that others might find some benefit from it because I know that there are a LOT of people suffering out there who could use this. Especially those who are either trying to avoid using anti-anxiety medications like Ativan or stop using them altogether.

Not for everyone.

There are some people for whom this might not work, such as people who have suffered brain injuries. In addition, people with bradycardia (slow heart rate) or hypotension (low blood pressure) need to be aware that doing this could possibly result in the loss of consciousness, so caution would be strongly advised.

I hope this helps.

If it does help you, please spread the word around so that more people will know about this.