The mental health case for sauna time just got stronger.
In a new study from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), adults with major depressive disorder took part in an eight-week program that paired whole-body infrared sauna sessions with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). By the end, 25 of 29 participants—86.2%—no longer met the criteria for major depression.
Published in Global Advances in Integrative Medicine and Health, the study used a Clearlight Curve Far Infrared Sauna Dome to deliver gentle, full-body heat. Participants joined weekly virtual CBT sessions and used the sauna twice a week, creating a steady rhythm of mind-and-body work.
Lead author Dr. Ashley Mason, a clinical psychologist at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health, called the results “positive and hopeful,” noting that improvements appeared across different infrared heat levels. Over three-quarters of participants said they would recommend the approach to someone else dealing with depression.
This isn’t Mason’s first look at heat and mood. In an earlier trial with people diagnosed with depression, 11 of 16 participants no longer met criteria for major depressive disorder after a series of whole-body heating sessions combined with CBT, during which their core temperatures were raised to about 101.3°F over roughly 90 minutes. A separate 2021 study in people without diagnosed depression showed similar boosts in mood and nearly significant reductions in depressive symptoms.
Why might heat help? Mason believes the answer lies in how our bodies regulate temperature.
“When you go in a sauna or do some kind of heat therapy, you heat up,” she explained in a recent Global Wellness Institute webinar. “As soon as you exit the heat, you have a rebound temperature lowering.” That cooling phase may be part of what eases depressive symptoms.
People with depression, Mason notes, tend to “run hotter” than those without the condition. Heat therapy briefly pushes body temperature higher, forcing the body’s cooling systems to kick in. Layered on top of CBT—and the calming ritual of time in a sauna—that thermal reset may give the brain and body a new way to break out of a depressive pattern.
Modern life, Mason adds, has stripped away most “meaningful thermal stress.” We keep our environments—and ourselves—at nearly the same temperature all day. Infrared saunas may offer a safe, structured way to bring that stress back, with early research suggesting it could become a useful ally in the fight against depression.
