2023-07-19 11:32:57
How does high temperature affect our mental health?
When the temperature rises, the rates of suicide, crime and violence also rise. Twitter has also monitored that tweets of hate and aggression via the Internet increase during heat waves. Researchers have also observed that feelings of anxiety and depression are linked to high temperatures. And a report by the American magazine “Time” monitored that doctors and scientists began to search for the complex interaction between extreme heat and poor mental health outcomes.
And while another early heat wave hits the northern hemisphere this season; As experts predict an even greater rise in temperatures this coming summer, it is increasingly necessary to understand how higher temperatures affect the brain and, more importantly, how we can protect ourselves and others.
“It’s easy to understand how going through a traumatic experience like a hurricane can affect mental health,” says Shabab Waheed, a mental health expert in Georgetown University’s Department of Global Health. The connection between heat and mental illness is not instinctive or intuitive.” Waheed recently participated in a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, which shows that even a one-degree increase in ambient temperature above normal contributes to an increased risk of depression and anxiety.
One degree exacerbation of the crisis
Time magazine reported that while the researcher’s study focused on Bangladesh, the findings apply globally, he says. There is also a growing body of scientific literature outlining this link between climate-related factors and the level of harm to mental health. Every indication is that as climate change continues to worsen, these links will gain strength, according to the researcher.
According to a 2018 study by Stanford University economist Marshall Burke and published in the journal Nature, an increase in average temperature of 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) in the United States and Mexico is associated with a 1 percent increase in the incidence of coronary heart disease. suicide; Which explains the increase in additional cases.
Burke’s study predicts that if temperatures continue to rise as climate scientists predict, the resulting increase will be enough to wipe out the combined efforts of suicide prevention programs and gun control policies in the United States.
Citizens cool their bodies in Tokyo (AFP)
The number of extreme heat days increases each year due to climate change, and social interactions, personal well-being and mental stability are under serious threat, says Robin Cooper, associate professor at the University of California-San Francisco and president of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance. “We have to start thinking of climate change as a mental health crisis,” Cooper adds. If we ignore climate change as a threat to public health, we are abandoning our role as healthcare providers.”
The report stated that although it is well known that heat affects brain function, the exact mechanisms are not well understood, as scientists point to many interrelated psychological, social and biological factors, ranging from interrupted sleep and the function that is affected, through the effect of high temperatures. On neurotransmitters and vital hormones.
The magazine pointed out that suicides and events related to mania and post-traumatic stress disorder usually occur in the late spring and early summer, when temperatures are most volatile, according to Josh Wurtzel, who studies the intersection of climate change, heat waves and mental health at Brown University. “It’s not necessarily the hottest days of the year that are associated with the highest number of suicides and suicide attempts, but actually when the temperature changes dramatically,” Wurtzel says. And extreme swings, such as a temperature rise of 15 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit this week in parts of the Pacific Northwest, are usually the most dangerous.
Sleep is a major factor
Much of this can be traced back to sleep. Anyone who has lived through a heatwave without the benefit of air conditioning knows that good sleep gets a long way off. Over time, the cumulative effects of a lack of sleep can lead to memory loss, decreased concentration and irritability, says Cooper.
Heat also affects the neurotransmitter serotonin, one of our most important mood regulators, which is closely linked to our anger rate, according to Wurtzel. Serotonin helps transmit information about skin temperature to the hypothalamus in the brain, which continues In controlling the shivering and sweating responses when necessary.
A group of homeless people cool their bodies from the high temperature in a center in the United States (AP)
Depressed patients often experience difficulties in thermoregulation. These problems can be mitigated when patients take antidepressants, serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which suggest a relationship between heat exposure and serotonin production.
Climate shocks also play an important role, says Brett Wray, director of the Stanford University School of Medicine program on climate change and mental health. “It’s not as if everyone who survived wildfires will develop PTSD. But it is more difficult when you are also dealing with other social pressures, such as stressful economic conditions, or perhaps a pandemic. He adds: “The compound stresses on the mental system make it difficult to resilience to other stresses, such as high temperatures, then add the neurophysical effects of extreme heat on the brain, and the very real threat of heat waves to patients already suffering from mental health disorders, and further escalate the ramifications.” Mental health, it becomes a ‘vicious cycle’,” says Ray, on the sidelines of the Frontiers 2023 Forum, an annual event focused on society, health and science. And he continues, “We certainly have a mental health crisis within the climate crisis that we need to anticipate, before many of these events accumulate.”
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