As we continue to endure sweltering temperatures, new research highlights the link between heatwaves and adverse mental health.
The study, published in Nature Mental Health and led by Monash University in Australia, looked at more than 2.6 million psychiatric hospital admissions during warmer months in Brazil, Canada, Chile and New Zealand between 2000 and 2019.
Researchers found that long periods of extreme heat were linked to more people being admitted to hospital with mental and behavioural disorders.
Lead author Professor Yuming Guo said older people and those living in rural areas were most at risk.
He explained older adults can struggle to cope with high temperatures, some mental health medications can make people more sensitive to the heat and loneliness may make the effects of the hot weather worse.
The findings come as the UK experienced another spell of freakish hot weather. In May and June – when temperatures reached 37C in parts of England – around 2,700 people died. Over the past week, the mercury has climbed above 30C once again.
Before the UK’s first heatwave in June, researchers at the University of Oxford outlined the risks extreme heat can pose to people with mental health conditions.
Dr Lawrence Wainwright, senior departmental lecturer at the Smith School of Enterprise & Environment and senior researcher in the Department of Psychiatry, said the effects can be seen in several ways.
Some psychiatric medications can increase sensitivity to heat or cause stronger side effects in hot weather. Heat can also worsen symptoms of existing conditions, with disrupted sleep thought to be one possible factor.
Researchers have also found a connection between extreme heat and increased demand for mental health services, including emergency care.
Studies in the UK and Mexico have linked a one-degree Celsius rise in average monthly temperatures to a one to two percent increase in suicide rates.
Dr Wainwright said: ‘While most people typically understand that heat can cause physical health problems (things like dehydration-related health risks are fairly well understood by much of the public), far fewer are aware of the mental health impacts of extreme heat and heatwaves.
‘For the 16% of the UK population living with a mental health condition (the most common being anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia), heat can pose a range of challenges – some of which can be quite serious.’
Image: Immo Wegmann/UnSplash
In related news:
Leave a Reply