Why Hot Weather Increases Anxiety

Ah summer, a time for sunshine, baseball and family vacations — and anxiety?   

Many people view summer as a time of frolicking and fun, but this rosy perception can feel bewildering if instead you experience a spike in anxiety, depression or panic attacks. 

While summer anxiety isn’t an official diagnosis in the DSM-5TR, the American Psychological Association’s latest manual for making mental health diagnoses, it functions similarly to how some people experience a dip in mood during the winter months: A change in your external environment affects how you feel, in this case increasing anxiousness.  

“There is a lot of overlap between symptoms of depression and symptoms of anxiety, like feeling restless, irritable and having trouble sleeping. For some people, those symptoms can take on a seasonal pattern that also show up in the summer, much like some folks experience seasonal affective disorder in the winter,” says Sarah Campbell, assistant professor in the UW School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  

In all likelihood, this summer is going to be hot, with the potential to be a record-setting scorcher. With high temperatures ahead, here’s how to handle heat-related anxiety. 

Why do you feel more anxious in the summer? 

Several factors can create the perfect storm for summer anxiety. 

The increase in daylight hours can mess with your circadian rhythm, or your sleep-wake cycle, making it difficult to fall asleep and get enough rest to feel well. High temperatures can also prevent sleep, since ideal conditions are like a cave: quiet, dark and a cool 60-67 degrees F.  

From a physiological standpoint, symptoms of overheating may feel like those of anxiety (shortness of breath, sweating, flushing and an increase in heart rate), which could cause you to have more anxious thoughts.  

“If you focus on those symptoms, it could start to trigger anxiety if you don’t stop yourself to say, ‘Wait a minute, these are symptoms of just being hot — there’s nothing wrong in this moment for me to be anxious about,’” Campbell says.  

Worry about climate change or recalling past trauma, if it occurred in a hot location (which can be common for veterans, Campbell says), can also play a role.  

Plus, in the Pacific Northwest, there’s pressure to make the most of the summer months before the winter gloom sets in — and this can be overwhelming. Even if you aren’t stacking your schedule, having to turn down activities can make you feel guilty, and it’s easy to feel FOMO and anxiety and wonder if you made the right decision. 

Why you might have more panic attacks in the summer 

Similar to how heat and humidity can prompt anxiety, they can also increase panic attacks.  

Recent research out of South Korea found that even short-term exposure to higher temperatures may increase your risk of panic attacks.  

“You take normal experiences that are to be expected in summer, like your heart beating faster or sweaty palms, and interpret them through anxiety, which can trigger a panic attack,” Campbell says.  

Especially in Seattle, where many houses and apartments don’t have AC, high temperatures may cause you to worry about whether you will be able to tolerate the heat. If you ruminate on those thoughts and start to catastrophize (yeah, we’ve been there), it can lead to a panic attack. The same concept holds true if you feel worried about air quality during wildfire season and feel you can’t take a deep breath due to smoke. 

“Our brains and bodies are connected to each other,” Campbell says. “The more you focus on symptoms, the more intense they become. You get in a loop of what you’re paying attention to, which makes the symptoms worse, which makes you pay attention to them more.”  

How to reduce summertime anxiety and panic attacks 

While you can’t change the summer weather, you can help yourself feel better prepared.  

Cope with climate change anxiety 

It’s understandable if you’re worried about climate change: the effects are real, and they are scary. (And fires and heat in the summer only make these changes more apparent.)  

Taking concrete actions like advocating for climate action and volunteering with local initiatives can help. It’s also important to practice self-care and talk to loved ones about how you’re feeling. 

Schedule breaks 

If you’re tempted to pack your schedule in the summer, be sure to block out downtime. This way you are intentionally carving out time to take breaks and recoup.   

“If you set aside time to relax, you will feel more relaxed overall and it will be harder to get to that more intense level of anxiety,” Campbell says. 

Get adequate sleep  

Set yourself up for sleep success by keeping yourself and your space as cool as possible. Use air conditioning or a fan if you can, sleep with an icepack under your pillowcase and take a cool shower before getting into bed. Avoiding intense workouts and alcohol before bed can also help you sleep better.  

If you’re still struggling to fall asleep, Campbell recommends practicing five-finger breathing to slow your breathing and relax your body. To try it, inhale slowly to a count of four, as you imagine slowly tracing up each finger, pause at the top of your finger, and exhale to a count of four or five as you slowly trace down. 

Prevent and treat panic attacks 

“Two things are really helpful for panic attacks. One is practicing slow breathing and the other is having some kind of mantra or self-talk statement you can use to help your brain and body sync back up,” Campbell says.  

You can practice slow breathing by counting your breaths, which will help calm your body down, even if you are still having panicked thoughts. Inhale for four seconds then exhale for six. For a mantra, try repeating to yourself ‘I am safe where I am,’” Campbell says. 

And if you want additional help treating panic attacks, cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective treatments for panic, and there are mental health experts who can support you.  

The Connection Between Anxiety and Body Temperature

There is more to anxiety than just nervous thoughts. Anxiety causes significant physical symptoms. For example, some of these symptoms (such as a pounding heart and tensed muscles) are triggered by the activation of your fight or flight system. Others are triggered by how you behave in response to your anxiety (for example, trying to take faster breaths when you feel like you’re hyperventilating, thus making the hyperventilation worse).

Some anxiety is normal and natural. Fearfulness can help keep you safe from harm. But when your fight or flight system is activated inappropriately, even when you haven’t been confronted with a realistically threatening situation, that’s when you may be suffering from a diagnosable anxiety problem. One of the symptoms that may accompany anxiety conditions is a rapid change in body temperature (although if you experience this symptom, that’s not necessarily enough to say that you have an anxiety disorder, as compared to an appropriate anxiety response). 

Rapid Hot and Cold and Anxiety

Anxiety is linked to body temperature changes in multiple ways, and in some cases, it’s possible for a normal change in body temperature to trigger significant anxiety.  

These hot and cold sensations can be frustrating, and when they occur when you’re trying to go to sleep or otherwise be comfortable, they can be very disruptive. There are many issues that lead to hot and cold sensations in the case of anxiety. These include:

• Vasoconstriction The most common explanation for why anxiety leads to body temperature changes is your body’s fight or flight response. This is the mechanism that is designed to keep you safe from harm. Those with anxiety have a misfiring fight/flight response, and one of the consequences is vasoconstriction, where your blood vessels narrow. This may cause the body to heat up very quickly.
• Sweating Sweating is also very common in those with anxiety. Sweating is one of the main reasons that people have cold shivers after their hot flashes and may struggle to warm up again. It’s the body’s response to vasoconstriction – your body knows it’s about to heat up, so it sweats to help you cool down.
• Over-sensitivity Those that have anxiety may also be over sensitive to heat that is within normal ranges. You may find that when you’re already feeling uncomfortable and agitated, extra heat or cold in your environment may contribute to further agitation, and make you more likely to notice any temperature changes.

Other issues can lead to changes in how anxiety affects your body temperature as well. Anxiety can lead to goosebumps, which may cool the body. Hyperventilation can also lead to body cooling. Anxiousness may also cause you to move too much, in the case of agitated pacing back and forth, for example. This may heat up your body further.

Preventing Anxiety Body Temperature Alterations

There are only some aspects of body temperature that you can control. Rapid cold chills, for example, are a specific part of your fight or flight response. They can’t be directly controlled, but generally, they don’t need to be since they tend to fade fairly quickly after the anxiety has faded.

But when you find that you’re getting too hot or cold, and it’s lasting for a long period of time, there are several things you can do:

• Don’t Go Online Your first port of call should be to avoid consulting Doctor Google by researching your symptoms online. Body temperature fluctuation is linked to a number of medical diseases, like Multiple Sclerosis and Diabetes. But the likelihood you have these simply because you’re experiencing temperature fluctuations is slim, and researching them will only fuel your anxiety. If you’re worried, talk to your doctor. If you know you have anxiety, then it’s likely that your temperature changes are being caused by your anxiety alone. If you simply can’t resist the temptation and you do end up searching online for your symptoms, remember to take everything that you read with a pinch of salt and don’t jump to conclusions about a diagnosis until you have seen a medical professional. 
• Adjust Your Clothing Even when your body heat is caused by anxiety, it can be affected by what you’re wearing and the temperature in the room. If you’re hot, shed some clothing or turn down the heat. If you’re cold, add some layers. Your body will adjust to these temperatures, despite the way anxiety is making you feel.
• Get Up and Walk Around Body temperature is often most disruptive when you sleep. This is commonly referred to as “night sweats.” Rather than wait it out, it’s not a bad idea to get out of bed for a bit in order to cool-off. Let your body movement cool you down. Those that try to fight night sweats may find themselves too uncomfortable to go back to sleep and fuel their stress further.
• Distract Yourself Finally, one of the issues that may be contributing to your body temperature is your own thoughts. Often, worries passing through your mind can trigger feelings of fear or stress; this, in turn, can alter your body temperature. Fight those thoughts by distracting yourself from them. You may want to, for example, take a calming stroll, listen to some relaxing music, read a book or practice meditation. Not only will these activities take your mind off your worries for a little, they may calm you down more generally as well. 

You may even want to drink water as well, which can help control your body temperature from the inside instead of just focusing on the outside. Some people find that showers also help.

The Only Way to Cure Body Temperature Changes

Still, the most important thing to realize is that when anxiety is causing these changes to your body temperature, the only thing that is likely to stop them completely is something that addresses your underlying anxiety. That’s why I highly recommend you seek out an anxiety treatment that focuses on your symptoms and addresses your individual needs.

SUMMARY:

Anxiety movies blood away from the muscles, causes sweating, and leads to changes in blood pressure. All of these affect your perceived temperature. There are some minor changes one can make to feel more comfortable, but reducing anxiety is going to be the priority.

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Sources:

1. Marazziti, Donatella, Angela Di Muro, and Paolo Castrogiovanni.  Psychological stress and body temperature changes in humans. Physiology & behavior 52.2 (1992): 393-395.
2. Petruzzello, Steven J., Daniel M. Landers, and Walter Salazar.  Exercise and anxiety reduction: Examination of temperature as an explanation for affective change. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (1993).

why can they get worse in the summer heat?

The physical discomfort that may accompany us during this period, with fatigue, daytime sleepiness and nocturnal insomnia, decreased clarity of consciousness and mental activity, also puts pressure on the well-being and calmness of the psyche.

Heat: influence on the body and mind

The psyche is connected with the body.

If the body is sick, the psyche will also experience discomfort.

Excessive heat lasting for days, as happens during this period, contributes to the emergence and intensification of certain basic individual characteristics that, in periods of physical and mental well-being, would easily yield to control and alleviation by a person.

For example, if a person is of an irascible temperament, easily angered and angered, he will tend to flare up more easily, even for reasons that may be considered useless; similarly, those who are prone to depression will have an even more gloomy mood; those who are anxious will see their state of anxiety intensify.

With regard to anxiety, the vulnerability of anxious people to panic attacks is a central element that can mental health, especially during this period.

Physical illness and panic disorder are actually closely related.

Panic disorder is a condition characterized by a kind of difficulty in feeling well physically, a condition that gets worse and worse when heat has such a strong effect on physical well-being.

Heat: why it is more difficult to deal with negative emotions

This anomalous heat came at a time that our mind can no longer cope with easily.

Extreme heat, coupled with the crisis, fear of the consequences of drought, uncertainty about the future and the ongoing pandemic, further increase the general sense of unease.

High temperature and pandemic together are perceived by our mind as a danger signal that activates the emotional part, especially negative emotions such as disgust, anger, sadness, fear.

So this situation makes it difficult to control our emotions.

Although it is well known that the elderly are most physically weak at such temperatures, it is important to remember that when the temperature does not drop, people with anxiety are worst.

With bodily pain, anxiety suffers more than those who do not suffer from anxiety and than at other times of the year, and this especially affects people who suffer from anxiety with panic attacks.

One of the main theories is that panic is associated with some kind of false alarm of suffocation, so the lack of air, experienced by many as a real fact during this hot period, causes further discomfort for those suffering from anxiety. .

However, intense anxiety today is not necessarily a sign of mental illness: instead, it can be a sign of difficulty adapting to the whole context, pandemic, heat, which make this a particularly difficult year for anxious people. .

Therefore, it is advisable to talk to a specialist and ask for help in order not to overwhelm yourself with negative emotions and anxiety.

Read also:

Emergency Live More… Live: download your newspaper’s new free app for IOS and Android

First aid for dehydration: how to deal with a situation that doesn’t necessarily involve heat

Children are at risk of illness, heat-related, hot weather: what to do

9 AHA-Recommended Ways to Protect Your Heart and Brain from the Summer Heat

Summer Diabetes Tips for a Safer Vacation

Heat and Diabetes: A Safe Summer Decalogue

source:

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what do if you feel anxious in the heat

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No matter how strange it may sound, it is in the summer that most people notice an increased sense of anxiety. And if some experts attribute this to the fear of missing the summer and not having time to enjoy all the delights of warm weather, others argue that the city heat is the cause of increased anxiety.

With an increase in air temperature, a person may feel a sharp decline in strength. At this time, the body may give the same signals that are felt during a panic attack. The most common symptoms include increased sweating, dizziness, mild nausea, and increased heart rate. And if you suddenly notice this behind you, we assure you, there is no reason to be upset.

With a little safety precautions during hot weather, you can save yourself from the growing anxiety in public places. Let’s tell you more!

A scene from the film “Eat, Pray, Love”

1. Drink enough water and always have it with you. No matter how trite it may sound, when the air temperature exceeds 30 degrees, the body’s need for drinking increases. Moreover, it is water that can bring you to your senses, in case of deterioration of well-being in a closed room.
2. Choose light food. As a rule, it is in the summer that the digestion process slows down, but still there are times when, right in the middle of a hot day, a treacherous thought enters the head to eat a slice of pizza. In such cases, we strongly advise you to abandon it in favor of cooling products, namely, everything light and green. But if suddenly the desire to snatch a pizza with viscous cheese still does not let you go, leave this activity at least for the evening when the air temperature drops.
3. Get thermal water and ditch heavy cologne. We don’t know about the rest, but for the editors of PEOPLETALK, thermal water has become a real salvation on hot days. In addition to the fact that it moisturizes the skin (which, by the way, is also important to do), it also helps to calm down and recover from anxiety. So we strongly recommend that you purchase a miniature and keep it with you. Well, perfume in the summer is a separate conversation. In hot weather, you should abandon colognes with tart and spicy aromas in favor of light eau de parfum.
4. If possible, do not go outside between 12:00 and 15:00. As we well know since childhood, during this period the sun is most active. And if you do not tolerate heat well, then the doctor simply ordered you to stay at home at this time.