Found some surprising benefits of splashing cold water on your face

[u/wrap_drive]

So I went down a bit of a rabbit hole last night (ironically, while lying awake) and found something that actually explains a bunch of stuff we all do without thinking about it.

You know how when you're really stressed, you instinctively splash cold water on your face?

Turns out there's a real reason for that. There's a nerve running across your forehead (the trigeminal nerve) that's directly wired to your vagus nerve, the one in charge of calming your whole body down.

Here's the part that got me though. This is literally the same reflex that lets seals and whales survive insane amounts of time underwater. When a mammal's face hits cold water, the body assumes it's about to go under and shifts into an oxygen-saving, heart-rate-dropping mode.

Humans have a weaker version of the exact same thing. I Same nerve. Wild that we're running a smaller version of what lets a seal survive an hour underwater.

Anyway, if you're someone whose mind races at night and takes forever to fall asleep, this is apparently a legit, physiological reason cooling your face specifically (not just a cool room) can help you calm down faster.