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A new study establishes that the combination of sun, heat and humidity has a determining role in the appearance of mental disorders and admissions to emergencies.
Do you have the impression that the weather is affecting your morale? Beyond the changing mood linked to the sun or the grayness, a study conducted by the University of Albany links weather factors to mental health for the first time. The conclusions call out: hot summer weather causes more mental disorders and more emergencies.
More ER admissions on hot days
The research, carried out in New York State during two summer periods (2017 and 2018) made it possible to combine two a priori unrelated data: the weather conditions recorded by 126 measuring stations, and emergency room admissions in the same sector. , due to mental illness. During the hottest and humid measurements recorded, the study found a real increase in admissions, “particularly in patients with symptoms related to the use of psychoactive substances, mood disorders, stress disorders and behavioral disorders in adults, which may include forms of violence such as pyromania” supports the study.
Different problems depending on the weather
More than a trend, the study also found specific data:
- First of all, the effects were strongest during the months of summer transitions, ie in September and October;
- An increase in ED visits related to substance use was noted when solar radiation, temperature, heat index, and humidity were highest;
- Severe symptoms of mood disorders, which include depression and bipolar disorder, coincided with weather with less sunshine but higher heat.
For Professor Shao Lin, the lead author of the study, the finding is significant: “As extreme heat becomes more intense and more frequent due to climate change, we can expect these changes to have adverse physiological effects on people.”
Without giving the cause of these effects, the study sheds light on the conditions of access to care necessary in the future: this parameter taken into account could make it possible to better prepare to receive a greater number of patients when the mercury climbs a little too much.