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Two years ago, my son was REALLY struggling with his depression. Having tried almost everything, at the suggestion of his therapist, he tried cold showers. To s

Two years ago, my son was REALLY struggling with his depression. Having tried almost everything, at the suggestion of his therapist, he tried cold showers. To show some solidarity, I decided we should do cold plunges into the ocean together. A guy that I was starting to become friendly with humored us and came with. Two years later, that guy and I are best friends, and we cold plunge every Saturday together. Just did a new years plunge with our friend group that is growing. My wife commented this morning that I've really 'farmed' my friend group, whereas a few years ago. I was myself very frustrated with having no real friends anymore. FYI, my son is in a much better place.

_yb2s 10mo ago
Good to hear, I struggle with depression and cold plunges have been life changing for me also. I would love to find a community to do it with.
- galaxyLogic 10mo ago
  The way Finns do it they take a hot Sauna in the winter and when they get out of the hot-room they go lay naked in the snow. Or plunge into the frozen lake through a sawed-out hole. Then they go back to the sauna again to feel the warmth again. It does feel great and stops you from dwelling in miserable thoughts. That may be part of the reason why Finns are ranked happiest people for multiple years.
  - _yb2s 10mo ago
    Yep, I’ve spent time in Finland and loved this… but for me it works better to skip the warm part and just do the cold. However, the Finns in the winter did not seem to be happy at all, but mostly quite deep in seasonal depression.
    - galaxyLogic 9mo ago
      I agree Finns don't usually look very happy. I think their suicide rates are quite high. They drink too much coffee and alcohol. But they do have a great democracy, society, education, healthcare, wealth equality, gender equality. So maybe these studies about happiness instead simply measure "Which people SHOULD be happiest in the world".
  - gcanyon 10mo ago
    I have to mention the 300 club at Amundsen-Scott station. When the temp outside hits -100 (F) they crank up their sauna to 200, then run from the sauna to outside in their underwear.
    - jstgunderscore 10mo ago
      As part of the 300 club, I have to say that there was no underwear involved in my cohort, just shoes (a requirement).
      - gcanyon 10mo ago
        I am jealous -- can you expand on what I read about having to be careful about breathing as you ran outside for fear of freezing your lungs?
        deleted 9mo ago
        [deleted]
physicles 10mo ago
There’s something about cold plunges. My group started when some of us started meeting for drinks and a swim after work during the summer, and we just kept doing it every week through the winter. Some joined the group during the winter. Those people became my closest friends: - We see each other every week, almost without fail - I suspect the invitation to a cold plunge pre-selects for people with very high openness, and those people aren’t afraid of deep friendships - Doing something hard and a little bit scary together strengthens the bond
- lumost 10mo ago
  > Doing something hard and a little bit scary together strengthens the bond This can’t be underestimated. Most of my adult friends come from my trekking hobby. Everyone struggles during a trek, group dynamics form, you stay surprisingly close with the people you trekked with.
  - steve_adams_86 10mo ago
    I used to do long distance cycling with a few friends. We have a ridiculously tight bond around that suffering. So many hours asking each other what the hell we were thinking, and so many hours planning the next trips. We'd do 300, 400, 600km in a go. I miss it, and I miss them.
    - gcanyon 10mo ago
      600km?! at what pace? I've ridden 190km a couple times, but that was a. a long time ago b. took all day. In my defense, it was on a fully-loaded touring bike, but even on a high-spec racing bike I can't imagine cranking (heh) out more than maybe 300km in one go.
      - steve_adams_86 10mo ago
        For those really long guys we'd manage just 18kph or so. On shorter ones like 200km, we'd average more like mid 20s. I think beyond 300km is where the big shift happened and our average dropped a ton. Though we rode with some guys who had averages in the high 20s, even on 600s or further. We initially wanted to do a ride in France called Paris-Brest-Paris, but never got good enough. That's a 1200km ride. Then kids happened, careers, etc. I'm too bad at time management for that kind of riding, haha.
brainzap 10mo ago
friendships are strengthed by shared hard and painful experiences. online friendships just don't feel the same

_yb2s 10mo ago

Good to hear, I struggle with depression and cold plunges have been life changing for me also. I would love to find a community to do it with.

galaxyLogic 10mo ago
The way Finns do it they take a hot Sauna in the winter and when they get out of the hot-room they go lay naked in the snow. Or plunge into the frozen lake through a sawed-out hole. Then they go back to the sauna again to feel the warmth again. It does feel great and stops you from dwelling in miserable thoughts. That may be part of the reason why Finns are ranked happiest people for multiple years.
- _yb2s 10mo ago
  Yep, I’ve spent time in Finland and loved this… but for me it works better to skip the warm part and just do the cold. However, the Finns in the winter did not seem to be happy at all, but mostly quite deep in seasonal depression.
  - galaxyLogic 9mo ago
    I agree Finns don't usually look very happy. I think their suicide rates are quite high. They drink too much coffee and alcohol. But they do have a great democracy, society, education, healthcare, wealth equality, gender equality. So maybe these studies about happiness instead simply measure "Which people SHOULD be happiest in the world".
- gcanyon 10mo ago
  I have to mention the 300 club at Amundsen-Scott station. When the temp outside hits -100 (F) they crank up their sauna to 200, then run from the sauna to outside in their underwear.
  - jstgunderscore 10mo ago
    As part of the 300 club, I have to say that there was no underwear involved in my cohort, just shoes (a requirement).
    - gcanyon 10mo ago
      I am jealous -- can you expand on what I read about having to be careful about breathing as you ran outside for fear of freezing your lungs?
      - deleted 9mo ago
        [deleted]

physicles 10mo ago

There’s something about cold plunges. My group started when some of us started meeting for drinks and a swim after work during the summer, and we just kept doing it every week through the winter. Some joined the group during the winter. Those people became my closest friends: - We see each other every week, almost without fail - I suspect the invitation to a cold plunge pre-selects for people with very high openness, and those people aren’t afraid of deep friendships - Doing something hard and a little bit scary together strengthens the bond

lumost 10mo ago
> Doing something hard and a little bit scary together strengthens the bond This can’t be underestimated. Most of my adult friends come from my trekking hobby. Everyone struggles during a trek, group dynamics form, you stay surprisingly close with the people you trekked with.
- steve_adams_86 10mo ago
  I used to do long distance cycling with a few friends. We have a ridiculously tight bond around that suffering. So many hours asking each other what the hell we were thinking, and so many hours planning the next trips. We'd do 300, 400, 600km in a go. I miss it, and I miss them.
  - gcanyon 10mo ago
    600km?! at what pace? I've ridden 190km a couple times, but that was a. a long time ago b. took all day. In my defense, it was on a fully-loaded touring bike, but even on a high-spec racing bike I can't imagine cranking (heh) out more than maybe 300km in one go.
    - steve_adams_86 10mo ago
      For those really long guys we'd manage just 18kph or so. On shorter ones like 200km, we'd average more like mid 20s. I think beyond 300km is where the big shift happened and our average dropped a ton. Though we rode with some guys who had averages in the high 20s, even on 600s or further. We initially wanted to do a ride in France called Paris-Brest-Paris, but never got good enough. That's a 1200km ride. Then kids happened, careers, etc. I'm too bad at time management for that kind of riding, haha.

brainzap 10mo ago

friendships are strengthed by shared hard and painful experiences. online friendships just don't feel the same