Swimming out of the darkness: How cold-water swimming helps with mental health – ABC News

Literally and metaphorically, Frog and Jessie are emerging from the fog.

With the closures of the local pools under lockdown, following the black line was no longer an option.

So, the friends began swimming outdoors.

Jessie and Frog have known each other for years, but the early morning open-water swims have drawn them closer.

"Your body gets used to it. You calm down. You realise how beautiful it is," Jessie said.

In cold conditions, often blanketed in fog, they plunge into the Expedition Pass Reservoir, in Chewton in central Victoria, and feel mentally stronger and happier.

They are not the only ones; research has shown that cold-water immersion can reduce stress and improve mental health.

An Associate Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University, Rob Whitley said cold-water swimming has both biological and psychosocial benefits.

He said cold water not only stimulated the vagus nerve, one of 12 cranial nerves, but also increased circulation, which distributed nutrients and assisted the removal of toxins.

Dr Whitley said open-water swimming, which combined cold-water and exercise in a natural environment could be particularly beneficial as it could release endorphins and produce serotonin which increased happiness.

"It can help regulate sleep, increase mood and provide some kind of collective meaning and purpose," he said.

Jessie had swum 'forever', in pools, oceans and rivers, and as an adult became a lap swimmer.

Frog's love of swimming also began at an early age and continued into his teenage years when he became one of the first lifeguards at his local pool in Scottsdale in Tasmania.

Jessie described it as an embodied experience made special by sharing.

"I think this kind of shared madness and shared beauty that keeps you moving - I think it would be quite different on my own," Jessie said.

In the colder months there was the added challenge of overcoming the initial stress on the body.

"I need the stress to push through, to get going," Frog said.

When thoughts of the past and future collided mid-stroke it was the coldness that often won.

"The larger thoughts don't get a chance to take over because the cold water does," Frog said.

They began swimming together last October and, as the warmer months passed, the friends gradually adjusted to the creeping cold.

Bathing suits were eventually replaced by full open water wetsuits, complete with neoprene caps and gloves.

Both had struggled with anxiety and depression and had glimpsed a darkness, when life was considered not worth living.

When Frog's 20-year career as a technical director for live theatre was coming to an end, after years of leaving a young family at home to commute to Melbourne, he had a nervous breakdown.

Jessie, who works as an artist, was also acquainted with pain.

Six months after Jessie's long-term relationship ended, a back injury from basketball resulted in a chronic pain and difficulty in standing at times.

"It's just like everything, your whole life becomes revolved around pain," Jessie said.

Trying to raise two children only added to the complexity.

"I was really depressed and it was impacting my whole life - socially, emotionally," Jessie said.

Both were forced to reassess their lives.

Part of that was finding a good therapist and enjoying the process of self-discovery.

"It's like watching the latest Netflix series, but I've got to wait two weeks for the next episode," Frog laughed.

As the lockdown restrictions eased, the swimming increased.

They now swim about three to four times a week, and more people have joined them.

"As the water's been getting colder and colder, we've started getting more committed," Jessie said.

The regularity of swimming in the cold with each other has fostered more intimate conversations.

"We were mates, but without the swimming we probably would not have called each other up to discuss anything," Frog said.

Jessie feels stronger mentally now than in the past three years.

"I think that the connection with the place and the experience of what it does to your body and to your mind afterwards, and then sharing that with friends is the best part," Jessie said.

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Swimming out of the darkness: How cold-water swimming helps with mental health - ABC News