James Laughlin strips down and plunges into freezing ocean water while it's snowing, stays in for five minutes, and describes an immediate shift: clarity, focus, energy, and the depression lifting. The physical shock is brutal. The mental payoff is instant.
About five minutes.
On a beach during snowy/icy conditions (icy ground, snowing).
I was walking along the beach one day, not in a good place, and I was like, screw it, I'm going in. Snowing, ice on the ground, stripped down in my underwear, walked into the icy, freezing cold water and stayed there for about five minutes. And I got out and it was absolutely horrible and it felt terrible. And my brain was so much better. I was clear, I was sharp, I was focused, I was energized. The endorphins were pumping. This depression was zero. I could not get over how much of an impact it had on my brain, not my body.
