Heat on the brain: The impacts of rising temperatures on psychiatric functioning, potential causes, and related compounding factors.

Abstract

While the impact of heat on physical health is well-known and discussed, researchers, clinicians, and individuals fail to recognize the severity of such heat on one's mental health. Unfortunately, as temperatures are expected to continue rising, the potential consequences of neither recognizing nor effectively responding to this relation between mental health and extreme heat can prove disastrous to the world's health. Further, no prior publication has ever provided an extensive review of this mental health vulnerability. The current article therefore aimed to address this critical therapeutic and research gap by proposing three distinct, but related, goals. The following article first summarizes the variety of psychiatric and cognitive impairments that stem from exposure to rising temperatures, in an effort to highlight the gravity of this relationship. Next, a variety of biological, social, and cognitive causes are reviewed, demonstrating various theories as to why heat exposure creates such significant psychiatric impairment. Finally, the article will end by identifying and reviewing a variety of moderating, yet important, facets that either exacerbate or reduce one's emotional vulnerability to rising temperatures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).