For those who deal with clinical depression and mental illness, just trying to live a normal life can be a significant challenge. Tasks that most people take for granted, like getting out of bed in the mornings and going to work, can take a Herculean effort for these individuals. Drugs like mood elevators can be prescribed, and sometimes this approach is practical. But these are often imperfect solutions because the use of these drugs also come with side effects. Alternative treatments are always being sought, and that is where the benefits of infrared saunas come in. Let’s take a closer look at how the use of an infrared sauna can help those struggling with mental issues.
Among the Sauna Benefits: An Elevated Mood
For those who deal with clinical depression or other ailments that cause them to feel low, it’s rare to find a drug that solves all their problems perfectly. It’s possible that they will try a drug that makes them better e able to cope with daily requirements, but it often comes with a lowered libido, dry mouth, dizziness, or any of a dozen other side effects. Just think about how frustrating that can be, but luckily the answer can be time in an infrared sauna.
Infrared sauna benefits include feeling happier. There are certain theories as to why this might be, but the results are undeniable. If you feel depressed and you spend 30-40 minutes in an infrared sauna several times a week, you will feel a boost in your mood. The most probable reason for this is that saunas cause stress in the body, and the heat triggers hormones that make you feel euphoric. Infrared saunas are an all-natural solution that many people with a mental health condition seek with prescription drugs, but it comes with no pesky side effects.
Less Stress and Anxiety
Another common symptom of mental illness is anxiety. Those who are mentally ill often feel paranoid or ill at ease when they’re out in the world. Far infrared sauna benefits include a reduction in anxiety and stress because a sauna use lowers the cortisol level in the human body. Cortisol is the body’s stress hormone, and if you have a severe mental condition, then those levels are going to be elevated a lot of the time.
When you sit in the relaxing heat of the sauna, then your cortisol levels drop, and feelings of anxiety, fear, frustration, and anger also dissipate. You can see things with clarity, and you feel more magnanimous. Suddenly, your problems will not seem as bad.
Relief of Mental and Physical Pain
Another reason to buy a sauna is for relief of the pain that sometimes goes along with mental conditions. In some cases, the pain that accompanies mental health problems can be either real or psychosomatic.
If you’re depressed, you can feel it physically just as much as mentally. Your muscles ache even if you haven’t been exercising, and limbs might feel heavy or clumsy. You might have the sensation of being uncoordinated, and your brain might feel as though it is not functioning at its highest capacity.
All these symptoms combined can make you miserable, but there are sauna health benefits to soothe these issues. When you sit in the sauna, your limbs will loosen up, and your unwillingness to engage with the world will disappear.
As you sit in the far infrared sauna and focus on your breathing, many users report a sensation of feeling lighter and more insubstantial. This is the mental and physical ennui from their conditions loosening. The relief they feel in those moments is intense. They’ve found a way to shake off their condition for a time.
BDNF
Another area that far infrared sauna use can help is through increased production of BDNF. BDNF is brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and a protein that boosts your mood and lowers your risk of mental disease.
Some people develop mental conditions later in life, but increased BDNF makes that likely to happen. If you have more of it, then your current brain cells are being protected, and it facilitates the growth of new ones. It’s a natural antidepressant, and time in an infrared sauna means that you’ll be walking away with a higher dose coursing through you.
What About ADHD?
In recent years, ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has become more recognized by the mainstream. It is mostly diagnosed in younger people, but adults can certainly have it as well. This condition means that you can have a tough time paying attention. You often feel distracted or fidgety, and you have a difficult time retaining information that you’re trying to learn. As you can imagine, it’s challenging for those who have it to do their work or to do well in school.
The drugs which are prescribed that are sometimes effective, but as is typical the possibility of side effects is a disadvantage. Time in a far infrared sauna has been shown to help those with ADHD as well. Far infrared saunas increase norepinephrine in humans, which helps us focus and pay attention. Because of this, more doctors are suggesting that people who have ADHD buy an in-home far infrared sauna
Home infrared sauna use is making a real difference in the lives of many who live with debilitating mental conditions. For these individuals, time spent in a sauna is no less than miraculous for their health. If you have any of the conditions we mentioned, you should consider trying it. You have nothing to lose, but a great deal to gain.
If you’re still feeling uncertain, consult with your doctor or mental health professional. We’re living in a time when the benefits of sauna therapy have come to be widely understood and accepted, so doubtless they will support your decision to give it a try.
