Everyone benefits from knowing some strategies to calm down, and it can be useful to try a few techniques to find a personal favourite. This blog is describing using cooling items to chill out or calm down.

Ways to cool include:

• zip lock bags with cold water,

• cold slushies,

• cold water in sinks,

• cold stress balls,

• chill towels.

• cold face washer/face cloth/flannel

• using ice sprays,

• disposable ice packs,

• cold shower

• jumping into a cold pool or ocean

• cold drink

Cold temperature can be useful for several reasons:

• It can cool the body when it is hot eg when anger flushes the face and hands.

• As a calming strategy when anxious or panicking.

• As a calming strategy when angry or feeling destructive or aggressive.

• Cool water used in conjunction with breath holding can invoke the mammalian dive reflex and reduce the heart rate. (this makes it unsuitable for people with heart conditions or anorexia nervosa without prior medical clearance).

• As an intense sensation, it can be an alternative to self harm

• The sensory input can feel grounding and reduce dissociation.

• Some people who experience night sweats find that sleeping with a chill towel is very cooling and relaxing.

• To cease hallucinations (we have had a couple of clients try this and found it is the most useful technique that they have found)

How to use cold water to chill:

The cold items can be held in the hands, or applied to the face or the whole body. Each person can think about what will work for them and also how much cold they are comfortable with using.

Using the icy water on the face can be an intense sensation but can provide a very quick calm down, so it can be useful to try.

Icy water can be either applied from a bowl or applied to the area under the eyes in a zip lock bag filled with water. The breath is then held. The combination of holding our breath and applying icy eater activated the mammalian dive relaxed. This reflex has the biological function of decreasing our heart rate to preserve the body and brain if a person falls into the icy water. By decreasing the heart rate and increasing carbon dioxide levels in the blood (by holding our breath), our feelings of calm and grounding increase. This technique is used within Sensory Modulation and also within Dialectical Behaviour Therapy as a distress tolerance skill (TIP skill). Note that this technique should not be used by people who have a heart problem or other medical problems where it would be contraindicated to drop the heart rate quickly, such as anorexia nervosa. Applying cold water may be contraindicated for some other medical conditions too and this could be discussed with the Doctor if unsure.

Further suggestions on Sensory Modulation items are in the Sensory Modulation Resource Manual or in the online course:

Using Sensory Modulation Course

• Videos, slides and downloadable infographics and handouts. It is 5 hours CPD. https://bit.ly/usingsm

Infographic in downloadable link

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hJRIkJ2XvONlgs4XNx9aQspArycuuXAs4wYM3stJYuU/edit?usp=sharing

REFERENCES:

Sensory Modulation Resource Manual paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sensory-modulation-carolyn-fitzgibbon/1128221915

Sensory Modulation Resource Manual ebook: https://www.amazon.com.au/Sensory-Modulation-Carolyn-Fitzgibbon-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0791WJZ5N

https://dailydbt.wordpress.com/2011/02/17/tip-skills/

DBT skills training handouts and worksheets (2014), Linehan