Extreme Heat Raises Mental Health Risks Doctors Warn

As dangerous heat settles over much of the country, mental health treatment providers are warning that soaring temperatures don’t just strain the body. They also affect the mind. Dr. Laurie Ballew, a psychiatrist at Four Rivers Behavioral Health in Paducah in Kentucky, says extreme heat can worsen a range of behavioral health conditions and even land some people in the emergency room.

Ballew’s caution comes as summer remains at full blast throughout the country. States like Kentucky offer a wide range of inpatient and outpatient programs for residents of all backgrounds. However, the summer heat is a reminder that comprehensive mental health care has to account for the environmental factors people live in.

Heat Affects the Mind

According to Ballew, heat raises the body’s level of cortisol, a hormone tied to stress. Higher stress and cortisol can lead to irritability and anger, especially during prolonged heat waves. Ballew cites data to show that communities often see more suicides, domestic violence, and crime.

Heat can also deepen mood disorders like depression. When it’s too hot to take a walk or do the activities a person enjoys, that loss of routine can pull someone’s mood down. Others may unwisely take drugs to self-medicate, but that can lead to a cycle of dependence. In addition, severe heat may also disrupt sleep, because the body struggles to cool itself and is harder still for people taking certain medications.

Medications, Dehydration, and Vulnerable Groups

Ballew says dehydration affects the heart’s ability to pump and the kidneys’ ability to function, which can contribute to delirium. That risk is higher for people taking psychiatric medications or medications for high blood pressure or diabetes because some drugs affect how the body regulates temperature.

Older adults with dementia who take several medications can become delirious quickly if they aren’t well hydrated. Seniors may also become addicted quickly if they depend on their meds, which reinforces their dementia. People living with schizophrenia who take antipsychotic medications need to stay cool and hydrated to avoid overheating. 

Warning signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, Ballew says, include confusion, feeling cold and clammy in high heat, or extreme irritation. These folks may signal a need for emergency care.

Extreme Heat Means for Mental Health & Addictions

Heat is also a reminder of how closely physical health, mental health, and substance use are linked. Ballew advises against drinking alcohol during extreme heat because it worsens dehydration. To de-stress, music therapy or other holistic exercise may help the body and take your mind off the heat.

For people managing co-occurring conditions, meaning a substance use disorder alongside a mental health diagnosis, that overlap matters. Integrated, or dual diagnosis, treatment addresses mental health and substance use together rather than as separate problems, which is often more effective than treating one and ignoring the other.

To recap: co-occurring disorders describe when a person has both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder at the same time. Since the two influence each other, behavioral health providers increasingly treat them in a coordinated way by combining therapy, medications, and support for daily stressors like sleep, routine and extreme weather.

Protect Your Mental Health in the Heat

Ballew’s practical advice: go outside only in the early morning or late evening when possible, cover your head, and wear light clothing. Cold water therapy may also help. Keep taking prescribed psychiatric and opiate medications as directed, and don’t take extra in an attempt to feel better. Above all, stay cool and drink more water than usual.

If you or someone you love is managing a mental health condition and/or a substance use disorder, coordinated care is available. When looking for mental health treatment facilities and dual diagnosis treatment programs, and ask about evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy and medication management. 

To get started, call 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) for comprehensive mental health and addiction treatment, or browse our directory for facilities located throughout the USA.

Author

Terri Beth Miller, PhD

Author, Award-Winning Post-Secondary Teacher

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Terri Beth received her PhD in English literature from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and is an educator and disability studies scholar. For more than a decade, she has written extensively in the fields of mental health and addiction recovery and fiercely advocates for the destigmatization of mental illness.

Editor

Peter Lee, PhD

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Peter W.Y. Lee is a writer and historian of American history during the Cold War. His primary focus is the relationship between youth and popular culture and its impact on U.S. society during the twentieth century. He has published widely on how the public has used popular culture as a mechanism to address political and social shifts throughout time