Your mental health is another great victim of the heat

Much is said about the consequences. high temperatures at the physical level. For example, there are many recommendations being issued these days to avoid the effects of heat stroke. But they don’t take into account mental health implicationsalthough they are huge. Depression, anxiety, and even irascibility increase as mercury rises on the thermometer. Of course, heat alone cannot be blamed, but it is an important factor that we often overlook.

This occurs as a kind of domino effect, in which the piece falls first. difficulty sleeping on tropical nights that heat waves are leaving us. From here, irritability and fatigue arise, which increase with the heat during the day, which makes it difficult to go outside for communication and makes us feel even worse.

Psychologists see this every summer in their offices, and especially now, when we are being mercilessly hit by a heat wave. Many studies have also been published in this regard. But even so, we still don’t give mental health the importance it deserves in times like these.

The link between heat and mental health loss is very clear.

In 2021, a bibliographic review was published that analyzed hundreds of studies on the topic The link between heat and mental health. Thus, it was seen that only 1°C increase leads to a significant increase in morbidity and mortality related to mental health. Mortality is mainly due to drug use, as attempts are often made to alleviate emotional discomfort with this type of substance.

All of these consequences are especially severe in people with pre-existing mental health disorders, as well as in adults over 65 years of age.

On the other hand, in 2023, a group of Chinese researchers conducted a study to find out the connection between the occurrence heat waves and the results of surveys aimed at assessing the mental health of the population. They found that with each additional heat event, mental health scores decreased by an average of 0.027 points, which is 0.3% of the average. This was even more pronounced among those with low levels of education, without health insurance, and those living in rural areas.

On the other hand, in Mayo Clinic cite a study of 2 million people that found an increase in the number of visits or the number of people visiting psychiatric emergency department and mental health during heat waves.

It is clear that this is not a coincidence. Heat affects mental health, but how does it do it? It’s time to talk about Domino effect.

Stress and fear of climate change

All this heat is clear impact of climate changealthough there are still people who try to deny it.

Seeing what could happen in such a tangible form causes many people what is colloquially referred to as anxiety. And this, of course, also worsens previous mental health conditions. In fact, the American Psychological Association has already referred to this, suggesting that people experience increased stress due to the hopelessness of climate change and how little government is doing about it.

The problem of not sleeping

In 2019, two American researchers published a study analyzing the factors why heat seems to affect mental health. Although several have been found, one of the main causes was lack of sleep.

During these heatwaves, we have all seen how difficult sleep at such a high temperature. If it’s something specific, no problem. However, if this continues over time, it could have very clear mental health implications, he explains. hypertext Jose Benito ChamorroResident in Clinical Psychology at the Hospital of Madrid.

In fact, the specialist describes it as “snowball effect”. “If I don’t sleep, I wake up more irritable, I have less desire to do things because I didn’t rest, and I have less time because I may be sleeping longer, although I shouldn’t,” he begins. . “It makes me even more anxious because I don’t perform as well with less sleep and more intermittent awakenings, and that also affects depression.”

With regard to the latter, psychologists in their methods of treatment often resort to the so-called behavioral activation. This consists of gradually scheduling activities to improve mood. Often these activities involve going outside, such as playing sports or walking. And with the onset of heat, it becomes very difficult. In addition, for some disorders, as Benito Chamorro explains, it can even serve as apology. “If leaving the house makes me anxious, I use the heat as an excuse.”

Mental health suffers if we don’t communicate

Benito Chamorro also points to economic conditions as a contributory factor to the heat wave when it comes to declining mental health. And it’s not the same to have money to spend the heat of your vacation on the beach than to stay at home. with exactly the same routine.

On the other hand, the heat also prevents us from communicating in other ways. In fact, this is another one of those dominoes that fall after insomnia. “I don’t sleep, I’m more irritable, I have more apathy and more anhedonia, that is, the absence of social or personal pleasure, ”says the psychologist. “As a result, I isolate myself even more because I want to stay at home and rest.” In fact, the heat further reduces the desire to prepare for going out or socializing. “Imagine my depression telling me that I don’t feel like going out for a drink because I don’t feel capable of going out and I’m not going to go out in a bad state to ask me how I’m doing. .” This further leads to progressive isolation. And this isolation makes the situation even worse. It’s a vicious cycle.

More aggressive behavior due to heat

The heat does not affect mental health only in terms of depression and anxiety. It can also exacerbate aggressive behavior if there is a certain predisposition to it.

In fact, there are studies that show that crimes against people such as sexual assault or murderare more common in summer, and in winter looting, robbery and other matters of a much more material nature are more common.

At the mental health level, this may be due to phenomena such as psychotic breaks, according to the psychologist interviewed in this way. “For a psychotic episode, it is not necessary to have a pronounced genetic history or previous medical history or relapses in the individual, but the presence of the necessary conditions in the environment.” Temperature is not the only condition, but one of them.

Mental health is multifactorial

A person will not develop depression either from heat or from high temperatures in general.

In general, these types of mental health issues are multifactorial, so someone who is healthy in this sense will not be affected as much as someone who meets more conditions. “Mental health problems are so difficult that require complex origins and complex treatments,” explains Benito Chamorro.

In fact, summer has other factors that have nothing to do with high temperatures. For example, we spend more a couple of times, so friction can occur if it’s not strong enough. Living with children can also increase stress. Even alcohol consumption, which is higher during these periods, can exacerbate symptoms of depression or anxiety.

What we can do?

We have already seen that heat, even if it is not the only factor, is one of the contributing factors to increased stress, anxiety, or even depressive symptoms.

Therefore, in order to prevent the placement of this piece of the puzzle, we must take the same measures as in order to avoid other effects of heat. Keep your home ventilated, drink plenty of fluids, use air conditioning or a fan if necessary…

Benito Chamorro also tells us that exercise can help combat these effects. But, of course, in the summer sports are much more expensive. Thus, you can use the early or late hours of the day for outdoor sports or, conversely, choose an air-conditioned room.

We must not let the heat take control of our lives. And we also need to understand what is happening to us. Understanding that it is the heat that sometimes speaks for us can help us deal with these issues. Information is power. And mental health is certainly no exception.