Out of doors swimming transforms Worcestershire man’s psychological well being

A person who battled melancholy and alcohol abuse for years has credited out of doors swimming with altering his life.

Richard Williams, who’s now sober and lately married, stated he found “a couple of minutes” in chilly water helped to handle his stress.

The 42-year-old from Worcestershire began ingesting closely in 2018 and was later recognized with bipolar dysfunction, which causes excessive temper modifications.

But regardless of feeling “super anxious” forward of his first swim at a lake in Bishampton, he stated he “instantly just fell in love with it”.

In March 2022, Mr Williams tried to take his personal life. He stated: “I got to the point where I was like, ‘this is it, I’m no good’.

“I had a few makes an attempt to finish all of it. Fortunately, they weren’t profitable.”

After surviving the attempts, Mr Williams started working on himself and tried exercise, medication and therapy as part of his recovery.

But it was a talk with an old friend that led him to joining the Outside (OUTdoor Swimming as a nature-based Intervention for DEpression) research project.

“She was going by way of a divorce and had utilized to do the swimming course,” Mr Williams said.

“Everything occurs for a motive, proper? At the time, I had been wanting, however I did not actually know the place to look.”

• Details of data and help with suicide and emotions of despair can be found at BBC Action Line.

The Outside project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and has explored the impact of outdoor swimming on depression and anxiety.

According to the NIHR, entering lakes, rivers, lidos, reservoirs and the sea at temperatures between 20C and 25C (68F and 77F) and below “has a big impact on the physique”.

Mr Williams stated: “I used to be attempting every thing on the time. I used to be attempting train; I discovered a very good therapist.

“I was a few months sober by that time and I was feeling a little bit better. But when I got into the cold water, it changed my life.”

He added: “When you’re dipping, you’re concentrating on your breathing and trying not to think about how cold you are.

“It simply wipes the slate clear. I take advantage of it to get to that sort of calm, clean house. A few minutes there, and that is all I would like.”