'Outdoor swimming transformed my mental health'

Richard Williams has said when he got into the water it changed his life

A man who battled depression and alcohol abuse for years has credited outdoor swimming with changing his life.

Richard Williams, who is now sober and recently married, said he discovered "a couple of minutes" in cold water helped to manage his stress.

The 42-year-old from Worcestershire started drinking heavily in 2018 and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which causes extreme mood changes.

But despite feeling "super anxious" ahead of his first swim at a lake in Bishampton, he said he "instantly just fell in love with it".

In March 2022, Mr Williams tried to take his own life. He said: "I got to the point where I was like, 'this is it, I'm no good'.

"I had a couple of attempts to end it all. Fortunately, they weren't successful."

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 through a divorce and had applied to do the swimming course," Mr Williams said.

"Everything happens for a reason, right? At the time, I had been looking, but I didn't really know where to look."

Mr Williams battled depression and alcohol addiction for years

• Details of information and support with suicide and feelings of despair are available 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 significant effect on the body".

Mr Williams said: "I was trying everything at the time. I was trying exercise; I found a really 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."

According to the NIHR, outdoor swimming "has a significant effect on the body"

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

"It just wipes the slate clean. I use it to get to that kind of calm, blank space. A couple of minutes there, and that's all I need."