Experts Say 30 Minutes a Day of Wearing This Could Help Depression

4 min readNew research suggests wearing a cooling cap can help ease symptoms of depression.People saw a noticeable drop in symptoms after using the cap.However, more research is needed before this becomes a treatment recommendation.It’s no secret that depression is a complicated condition that can sometimes require a mix of therapies to help someone feel better. Now, the latest research suggests a new kind of non-medicated treatment that could also help ease symptoms—and it may be something you can try at home.A new study published in Acta Psychologica suggests wearing a cooling cap for 30 minutes a day may help with self-reported symptoms of depression. It’s important to note that the study is small and researchers say more work is needed before everyone straps on cooling caps in the name of mental health. But if you struggle with depression and are looking for more options to add to your treatment plan, this news may be worth keeping an eye on. Here’s why.Meet the experts: Madeline McLaughlin, study co-author and researcher in the Penn State Sport Concussion Research & Service Lab and Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor of psychology at NYU Langone Health.What did the study find?For the study, researchers recruited 24 college students between the ages of 18 and 26 and split them into two groups. The cooling cap group was asked to sit in a quiet, dimly lit room for 30 minutes, seven days in a row, while listening to ocean sounds and wearing a cap that continuously circulated liquid coolant to maintain a temperature of 33 degrees Fahrenheit around their scalp and parts of their upper neck. The control group sat in the same environment, but without the cooling cap.All participants were asked to complete several neuropsychological questionnaires at the start of the study to measure depression, anxiety, and general worry. After the session, participants were asked to retake the psychological surveys, do cognitive tests, and undergo an electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures electrical activity in the brain.On the eighth day, the researchers gave the participants a final round of testing to examine longer-term effects of the experiment. The researchers found big changes in brain activity after the first session, with those in the cooling cap group having about a 4 percent increase in alpha wave power compared with a small decrease in the control group. (Alpha waves are usually stronger when someone is awake and relaxed. People with depression and anxiety disorders tend to have lower levels of alpha wave activity.)People in the cooling cap group also saw a bigger drop in their depression scores compared to those in the control group—five points compared to about half a point.Interestingly, researchers discovered that cooling caps may help with symptoms of depression by accident. “Our lab mostly works on cooling the head and neck in athletes post-concussions, and we noticed that people would try the cap on and tell us that they enjoyed it; It felt good, and it helped them relax,” says Madeline McLaughlin, study co-author and researcher in the Penn State Sport Concussion Research & Service Lab. “I nearly fell asleep when I tried the cap because I was so relaxed. Given these anecdotes, we decided to put together a study to see if there was anything real to back them up.”Why might a cooling cap help with symptoms of depression?The researchers didn’t study what was behind this—they just found a link between using a cooling cap and lowered symptoms of depression. But there are a few theories.“Previous literature indicates that selective head cooling (i.e., wearing a cooling cap) lowers brain metabolism and increases blood flow,” says McLaughlin. The hypothesis is that this may help you feel more positive while tamping down feelings of rumination, which is when you dwell on negative or stressful thoughts.“Depression isn’t always characterized by low energy,” points out Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor of psychology at NYU Langone Health. “Many people experience rumination, emotional distress, or a nervous system that feels chronically ‘on.’ If an intervention helps shift the body into a calmer physiological state, it may create conditions that make emotional regulation easier.”The cooling cap may also help to interrupt rumination by drawing attention back to the present, Gallagher says. “Depression often pulls people into repetitive negative thinking, replaying the past or feeling hopeless about the future,” she explains. “A novel physical sensation may gently shift attention back to the body and the present, functioning somewhat like a mindfulness exercise.”The increases in alpha brain wave activity after the cooling sessions suggest the cooling cap may be influencing brain activity in significant ways, Gallagher says.Do you need a special kind of cooling cap?If you’re hoping to try out the cooling effects at home, know that scientists aren’t quite sure if a DIY solution can help as much as the specific cap used in the study. For this experiment, researchers used something called a Welkins Arctic cooling cap, which is more advanced than, say, an ice pack. “It provides slight compression in addition to the cooling,” McLaughlin says. “The cooling caps are much more controlled and stay colder longer than a cold compress, so I'm not sure how well the cooling would work with a cold compress.”But McLaughlin says that more work is needed to see if using something like a home cooling cap could have similar benefits.What’s the bottom line?Again, since the study was small, experts say it’s important not to draw too many conclusions from the findings. “The biggest takeaway is that this is a promising adjunct, not a replacement for evidence-based treatment,” Gallagher says. “If future research continues to support these findings, a cooling cap could become another tool that helps some people feel calmer or experience modest improvements in mood.”