Taking a bath might be more effective than exercise for treating depression

Forget F45. Bath bombs, candles and a hot spa are the way to go.

Would you rather do a 15-minute HIIT workout or soak in the bath twice a week? Sprinting might be more effective for achieving that peach you’ve been striving for, but if you’re in it to improve your mental health, a new study suggests that a 30-minute soak in a hot bath is the way to go.

Researchers at Freiburg University in Germany tested 45 people who were classed as moderately to severely depressed, measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D).

For eight weeks, 22 of the subjects had 40-degree-Celcius baths twice a week for half an hour each. This was followed by a session of sitting with a hot water bottle and a blanket for 20 minutes. The other 23 did moderate-intensity aerobic exercise for 45 minutes twice a week.

Exercise produces mood-boosting endorphins.

To exercise or relax?

After eight weeks, the study participants had their HAM-D rescored and incredibly, the bathers reported a six-point drop in their score. The exercisers were 50 per cent as good, with only a three-point drop.

It’s long been known that exercise releases endorphins, which are chemicals in the brain that dull our pain receptors and trigger a positive feeling in the body. There have been plenty of studies linking regular exercise with lower rates of depression.

So how can a hot bath be better than endorphins?

Researchers aren’t sure, but the study suggests that soaking in a bath can improve a person’s mood by normalising body temperature and circadian rhythms, which regulate the sleep-wake cycle.

More than half of the exercisers dropped out

There are major caveats to the study though. A sample size of 45 is already small, and results may have been influenced by the fact that 13 of the 23 exercisers dropped out of the study because they were unable or unwilling to continue physical activity.

The study also hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed.

So whether or not it’s true that baths could be as good as exercise for treating depression, we all could use a bit of mobile-free down time, which means trying regular baths certainly won’t cause more problems.