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

Skeptics say global research on the 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.

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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, then 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,” &ldash; says UC psychiatrist Ashley Mason.

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

«We now know that depression — «It's a complex and multifaceted condition, likely with many different triggers, and body temperature may play a role.» the authors of the report note.

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 psychological effects.

«Ironically, heating people up can actually cause a sharp drop in body temperature that lasts longer than simply cooling people down directly, e.g. , using an ice bath, — Ashley Mason believes. — What if we could monitor the body temperature of people with depression to better time heat treatments?

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

About 5 percent of people worldwide are thought to suffer from depression, so efforts to understand it and effective treatment is more relevant now than ever. Each new discovery gives more hope for solving the problem.