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Eric Thayer /Reuters
A man wipes his forehead while sitting in Central Park in New York July 5, 2012. Six days after violent storms hit the eastern United States, parts of the east coast and midwest sweltered in the fourth day of a heat wave.
By Rachael Rettner
MyHealthNewsDaily
Hot days certainly take a toll on our bodies, but they can also test our tempers, experts say.
Many people feel a little hotheaded when the mercury rises, said Nancy Molitor, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry and behavioral science at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
In fact, hot and especially humid weather is known to be associated with increases in aggression and violence, as well as a lower general mood, Molitor said.
That's because trouble sleeping, dehydration and restrictions on our daily actives — such as being cooped up inside all day to avoid the sweltering heat — may all contribute to a worsening mood in warm weather, Molitor said. And a lack of control over the situation may further irritate some people, she said.
If the summer heat has you feeling snappish, Molitor advised avoiding making any important life decisions, because you might make a choice you later regret.
And whether you're at the office or on the road, recognize that people you deal with may also be a bit testy.
"Everyone's fuse is going to be a little bit shorter," Molitor said.
Summer SAD
While it's common to feel a little depressed or grouchy in the summer heat, a small percentage (about 1 or 2 percent) of people experience a summer version of seasonal affect disorder (SAD).
On top of feeling uncomfortable and depressed, people with this condition feel enormously anxious in the summertime, and can even become suicidal, Molitor said. For them, the heat and sunshine are "almost impossible to endure," she said.
Molitor said she suspects that prolonged periods of heat and humidity, as many regions have experienced this summer, may lead to an increase in cases of summer SAD seen by doctors.
Coping with the heat
Molitor urged that people practice common sense in the heat: stay hydrated, and listen to your body. If you're healthy and want to exercise, try to get in your workout in the morning or evening, rather than the middle of the day.
If you take mediations that are diuretics, such as blood pressure medications, you will need to drink even more that usual to stay hydrated, Molitor said.
In addition, focus on aspects of your life you can control, Molitor said, and realize that eventually, it will cool down.
"The average person can withstand this, if they listen to their body," Molitor said.
More from MyHealthNewsDaily:
7 Common Summer Health Concerns
Are You SAD? How to Tell if it's Seasonal Affective Disorder
Leave a Comment:
Thank God for Nancy Molitor and her theory of the Other "1%" having a reverse SAD to Summer, giving US some "street cred's" for how badly we are affected by endless, endless days of 90-103 degree days! All the millions of people who can proudly puff up their chests in Winter and haul out the facts on SAD and their depressed moods...MOVE OVER!!!!! Now, I can also puff up my sweat-soaked chest and claim "I have legitimate scientific proof that my depression, suicidal thoughts and inability to function have a reason!"
Global Warming or a Glitch in the weather, NOTHING about my mitochondrial DNA allows me to enjoy temps beyond 85 degrees. I hail from Swedish/Norwegian fisherman; we were designed to thrive in sub-zero temperatures and laugh at them. Our short, cool Northern Summers were tolerable, because we knew "Winter Is Coming", as surely as Ned Stark knew. But now, there is NO Winter, there is NO Spring. There's just Lesser Summer and Greater Summer with March hosting temperatures in the high 80's and 90's...in Minnesota!!!!
In excessive heat, my brain stops functioning. I can't eat. I can't think. When I walk outside of the air conditioning, I can't catch my breath and my head feels as if it were encased in an iron mask. I just want to take that one final swim in Lake Superior out to Asgard, and be done with it.
Thanks, Nancy Molitor, for giving some legit scientific nods to us 1%'ers who do NOT enjoy or thrive in the 100's! We are no more "freaks" than the folks who become suicidal in the middle of Winter, when I thrive. :)
As one with mostly scottish (and some other british isles roots as well) I know exactly where you are coming from! I live in the prairies of Canada, so I also completely understand that March heat...26 celsius, on March 15th, something like that...I'm having to pull out a sundress and flats, usually I'm still in a parka then. Yep, the heat makes me uncomfortable. Just take it from the friends and so on who have seen me turn into an emotional sobbing mess over the slightest thing when the heat rises above 30 degress C.
Haha! Great comment. My man is from Wisconsin and I lived there for several yrs and loved it! He's all Norwegian and I'm here to tell you, I loved it up there. Especially the mild temps. but now it's hotter up there than it is here down south.
Come hang out in So Nevada; worst drop-out rates, tanked economy and 110 in around 9 am is grand. Then come the days its 124 in the shade. This all means have a lovely bunch of crispy critters a few sandwhiches short of a picnic scronging for money in an area that just not going to ever be the way it was before. Then they're driving around vegas looking for something other than themselves to blame for being here in the first place and then have the nerve to steal from the ones who they think just got there sucking on lollipops and screwing off while they actually prepared by woring their asses off to make their life comfortable.... My bad, maybe my SAD's started a little prematurely beacuse it's F'in HOT! (And I'm tired of a**holes and their excuses.)
You'd LOVE the Monterey Bay area!! We are lucky to see 70 degrees during the summer! Lots of foggy afternoons, temps don't change much at all year round! I like 80-90 in the Summer, and winters un the 20's-30s, I like four seasons, which we do not get here and I can't wait to move up to Southern Oregon, maybe Idaho as they get wheather like that. I can handle a few 100 plus days, but keep it to a minimum! :)
Definitely right about that temper, Sometimes makes me beat my wife, and sometimes SHE BEATS ME BACK'!!'!
As I've gotten older, I find that I can't stand hot weather. I used to love soaking up the sun and enjoyed being outside in the heat. It must be an age thing. People look at me like I'm crazy when I say I hate hot weather. When it gets hotter than blue blazes like it is now, I feel like I want to pass out when I go outside. And getting into a hot car is just awful. I have to plan my errands around the heat of the day, ie, try to get everything done early in the morning before it gets too hot. The dogs don't get their walks in the afternoon after work. They don't seem to like it either. I keep telling myself... only 2 more months or so until refreshing Fall and Football!
Fall has always been my favorite season and i have NEVER liked hot weather. Sept-Mid Jan is the best! I get a little tired of winter Mid Jan -Feb, then March-Mid June is great. Mid June starts to get hot and (often) dry with July and Aug a bust
Pale red head here so Sun has always been a no-no anyway
September 1 through Jan 2 is my favorite time of year. I even like January if we get a few good snows. But many times it's just cold and grey and that gets a little old. But I'm a cold weather person. I had heatstroke in 1988 in the last drought we had. Working in a factory with no air conditioning and volunteered to work overtime in our second week of 100 plus temps. About an hour in to the overtime, stopped sweating, and was sick, sick, sick for a week afterward. Probably should have gone to the ER, but went home, took a cool bath and "self treated" and ended up OK. But ever since, I sweat like a pig in the middle of January (and all year long) and can't stand it to be hot or humid. Don't even like a spring rain because of the humidity. Oh well, different strokes they say. But from Memorial Day on, I keep saying, "BRING ON FALL!"
Try dealing with the heat and humidity in the third trimester of pregnancy! Get here quick, September!!
It's hotter than hell down here in Texas, and my air conditioning unit has gone. I can definitely feel the anger throughout the day.
ScaredySquirrel, my feelings exactly. Thank you for posting -- "In excessive heat, my brain stops functioning. I can't eat. I can't think. When I walk outside of the air conditioning, I can't catch my breath and my head feels as if it were encased in an iron mask." ME TOO! Trapped in Florida for 16 LONG years due to family obligation -- I HATE IT HERE and no one else understands why. THIS LEVEL OF HEAT & HUMIDITY -- but it's straight through, from April into November, it's too hot for me. So I have ONE season down here that I can stand.
One more year and I'm moving back to my home state of Jersey, where the glorious summers of my youth seem gone forever -- but I'm used to being trapped inside in summer. Being trapped ONLY in summer will feel like an enormous break to me. Living in Florida for me is like being in the hospital, except you can get out of bed. Shopping is agony as the stores are too hot, even with A/C. There is no going to parks or flea markets. I go nowhere because NOTHING is enjoyable in this climate.
I have no comprehension of why people actually live in Florida if they don't have to.
Same here--grew up in the swamps of South Carolina, now an official desert rat (New Mexico.) We get hot here too, but with the humidity at 10% or less, it is very tolerable, even in the upper 90s. My daughter, son-in-law and two young grandkids just moved in with me two months ago, and they love the lack of humidity. Hope you get the heck back home on schedule!
Buck up, people...this, too, shall pass. If you can get it, try a nice cool lemonade w/ice and then apply the ice to the back of your neck when you've finished your drink. Just a cooling thought. Have a happy Summer.
DownHomeGirl, I lived in NJ all my life till I moved to the UK
in 2003. I remember our summers being horrendous...so hot and humid I couldn't even go outside to sit on my front porch, it was that unbearable. I realise FL is a lot worse but NJ is a nightmare in this type of weather. My family and friends email me everyday and they can't stop talking about how they want to murder people in this heat! It is dreadful! Now that I live in the north of England, our weather is so comfy, we still have to use our eiderdown quilt at night and I LOVE it (along with the cuddling!) We may get our share of rain but I'll take these cooler temps over what you poor folks are suffering now! Good luck to you all x
Ok, so I guess that explains the year-round road rage down here.
Well, this would totally explain why people in Florida are so rude!! I had the misfortune of living there (military) for 2 years and couldn't wait to leave. Horrible traffic, rude/aggressive people....I always said it's because they're so darn HOT all the time! Everyone thought we were crazy to leave there and retire in the Midwest. I like all 4 seasons, thank you. Not a summer groundhog day experience!
The Midwest isn't much better! I was in Ohio for two miserable weeks in August of 2010 for vacation. UGH! Hot nn humid! It was horroble, thought I was gonna die! I like four seasons, but humidity SUCKS!!
Illinois here--the humidity does suck, but we have fall, winter and spring. All year isn't like that. And as much as I HATE humidity and heat, it doesn't last forever, and only seems eternal while it is happening. Read an article that the humidity is greater now than 40 years ago. One of the reasons is GPS farming and crops that are planted closer together. They have double and triple the corn plants in a cornfield now than 40 years ago. Each night, the plant sucks up moisture from the ground and releases it into the air above. With three times the plants per field, that is more and more humidity in the air for us to enjoy.
I seriously can't wait until the first football game that I can go to and wear my sweatshirt with pride. It will be later in the season though, since the first game is the last week of August. I'm talking playoff's around the first week of October. My favorite is the game where you have to bundle up, wrap a blanket to block the wind and buy hot chocolate instead of ice. Now THAT is a football game!!
As an addendum to this study, you could look into whether or not the heat creates Repuglican voters in the South.
Oh please. There are good republicans and bad republicans just like there are good democrats and bad democrats. I am so sick of politics!! And yes, it is hot here!!!!!
ludvig was obviously affected.
...and a political troll hijacks the thread.
Someone ALWAYS has to throw in politics no matter what the subject of the article is, don't they!!!
I went outside for lunch today. A short walk to the end of the block. Maybe 5 minutes tops. And in that five minutes I just got so mad about it being so hot. The sun is punishing and relentless, the wind is just blowing around 103 degree air for no relief at all. And the humidity, ugh, it just feels like your body can't cool off.
I've never been a giant fan of summer though. I much prefer fall and spring. I don't even mind winter as long as the sidewalks are clear.
Stupid article. We get cranky when its hot because its friggin hot and the idiots come out to play.
Another sad, clear correlation: heat makes you fat. In which states is obesity most common? Why, the good ole "Deep South," of course, and it ain't just the grits 'n' gravy (GAG ME!! I WANT JERSEY PIZZA! BAGELS!! INDIAN FOOD!!)
The obesity down here is actually frightening. But when it "feels like" 95+ degrees for more than half the year, well.... Nobody goes out, people just hide in their houses. No wonder everybody's fat. It's really hard to stay fit down here.
Now as much as I loved Wisconsin there were a lot of big folks there and the reason is just the opposite. When they have hard, cold, long winters, folks gather in bars, drink lots of beer and eat comfort food. I mean what else are you going to do when it's in the teens or below. So cold can make you fat as well. But even from being from the south, I could take the cold a lot better than the heat down here. Oh and btw, I gained a few lbs myself up there because I was doing all of the above! ;) But you are right, the heat and humidity takes something out of you and it's very hard to get engaged in anything active when it feels like a furnace outdoors. My man and I walk 2 miles every day but we do it early in the morning. When you can't breathe it's horrible. I hate humidity.
what did you just post punk!?
T.T It's because hot makes little sisters sweaty and irretating. That's why it makes me mad...
I live in the Snowbelt in Ohio, I will take the heat anytime over snow.
Come and spend a Summer in Phoenix. Then tell us how nice the heat is!!
But, it's a DRY heat!:)
I'm also glad that Rettner's article touches upon the little-known notion that Summer can indeed cause symptoms of S.A.D., or, Seasonal Affective Disorder. I've heard of SAD for a while now, but, usually, it's associated with Winter. I'm the opposite. I absolutely love Winter and Fall and dread the Spring and Summer months where I live. In the Fall/Winter, I feel I can go outside and do whatever I please. It's so liberating! Summer brings long months of holed-up isolation, several showers a day, and lots of reading or television in secluded air-conditioning. Socially, I try to just stick with emerging at nightfall.
Of course, where one lives has a great deal to do with how one tolerates certain seasons. I live in a state that doesn't really have much of a Fall and Winter. There are no real changes in the colors of foliage, nor does it ever snow. It's super hot and humid about nine months out of the year. (Yep. I live in South Texas). Oh, how I look forward to those few months that bring temperatures that sit in the 70's!
Now, granted, there are plenty of other geological bonuses to living in Texas, (no real threats of any kind of natural disasters, really) but, man, the heat is brutal. For those of you suffering in the North in this unexpected heat wave, I send my heartfelt commiseration. But yeah. What you're experiencing now is pretty much all the time down here. *AND* I don't have air-conditioning in my car. YUCK!
Good Luck to everybody dealin with the scorching doldrums of summer. Grab a glass of lemonade and dream of Fall & Winter - - it'll be here soon.
Cheers!
-M*
Drinking helps alot. ;)
I've been telling anybody who'd listen about reverse SAD for years now, and NOBODY believes me. I knew it. The heat makes me want to kill myself and anybody who so much as looks at me. I'm so cranky in the summer I even hate myself. The heat permeates every cell seemingly. I'm so sensitive to it I constantly have to think about it; the fans on all the time, air conditioner set a certain way to hit the living room and bedroom, windows open at night, getting up early and opening the front door the moment the sun comes up just to get some air in this heatbox I live in, having to do errands early or late in the day, on and on it goes, at least six months out of the year because I LIVE IN THE DAMN DESERT and can't afford to leave this hell yet. I wake up and curse the constant sunshine. No rain, no dark clouds, SUN, SUN, SUN. BBBLLCCCHH. I CAN'T WAIT to live someplace like Oregon, anyplace other than here. I HATE THE HEAT.
So move elsewhere, Susan. Why don't you have an evaporative cooler?
Evaporative cooler doesn't help much when it's 110 for days on end!! And some people can't afford to move!
I live in AZ, watch out! Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Watch out for what, Evanusk? Susan isn't happy in the desert. What she should do is move elsewhere, if she can do.
What has her discomfort and unhappiness to do with you? If you're happy in the desert, rejoice! Count yourself lucky and be grateful you live somewhere you love. Everyone else is not so fortunate in life as you are today.
Hey, lighten up, Peridot, lol! It was just a joke, and it was not even a reply to Susan's comment! I didn't even read hers! I just happened to be the next person to post after her. I was just joking that I live in AZ and it's HOT here, so watch out, I might be in a bad mood!
I've come to the conclusion that people like to bitch. They bitch about it being too hot (and can't wait for colder weather) and they bitch about it being too cold (and can't wait for warmer weather). I happen to LOVE HOT WEATHER! I prefer low humidity (Arizona, California) and high temperatures. My advice to the people bitching: STFU and enjoy!!
DjXs - I think you are right on target. Where I came from, we used to have a saying that "so and so would complain if you hung him with a new rope". But having come from the Southeastern part of the US and now live in the Pacific Northwest, I must say that I enjoy the Northwest temperate marine climate a lot better. The summers here are usually on the dry side for a couple of month with temperatures averaging in the 70's and low 80's which is perfect. It is like spring in the South. I look back now and for the life of me never figured out how I made it in that southeast heat and humidity and I worked in agriculature and spent a lot of time outside in the summer heat. But we always wore big brimmed hats and always had jugs of cold water around.
hey my dad always said that too....lol
DjXs,
You are an ignorant moron. Some people are not biologically, physiologically or medically able to withstand extreme heat.
I hope you get heatstroke for your lack of empathy.
Is global warming a natural cycle? Or is global warming affected by human influence? What does the science say? Both are true. In the natural cycle, the world can warm, and cool, without any human interference. For the past million years this has occurred over and over again at 100,000 year intervals. About 80-90,000 years of ice age with about 10-20,000 years of warm period.
The difference is that in the natural cycle CO2 lags behind the warming because it is mainly due to the Milankovitch cycles. Now CO2 is leading the warming. Currentwarming is clearly not natural cycle. The earths natural cycles, if human industrial output had not been involved, would have us near or slightly below thermal equilibrium, possibly slightly cooling.
In other words, if we were in the natural cycle without human influence, the forcing levels would likely be around 0W/m2 to -0.1W/m2. We are currently experiencing a positive forcing of around 3.6 to 3.8W/m2 and a human induced negative forcing of around 2W/m2. The resultant forcing, depending on current levels and the Schwabe cycle is around +1.6W/m2 above natural cycle as estimated.
I am not a fan of extremely warm weather. I also suffer from depression, and though I don't notice a difference in its severity in the summertime, it is a downer restricting my outdoor activities during the triple digit temperatures. I have and always will prefer cooler weather. Upon retiring (if that ever happens) I will not reside in the southeast, where I've spent my last 25 years. All because of 2 months out of the year when my activities revolve around our sticky, humid heat. My favorite part of the country is probably the Pacific Northwest, which still has seasons but is on a different meridian line than southeastern Virginia. A little humidity when it's cooler is wonderful (I love snow) and doesn't give me the headaches and nausea I suffer from spending anytime outside. I will never understand how anyone could love Florida or Louisiana.
I grew up in Florida. The waters are beautiful. Unfortunately since I've had more than 50 skin cancers I must restrict my time outdoors in summer sunlight, but I love to swim. We have wonderful beaches and lakes and rivers with clear waters full of fish and wildlife that are amazing to observe.
It was better before Disney turned the state into an overcrowded amusement park. That was a huge mistake on the part of Tallahassee. Then again, they screw up all the time. The State's always for growth at the cost of clean water and the environment. They're not connected to quality of life over there in the panhandle of the state. As a result we have too many people straining the aquifer from which all our fresh water comes and we already ration lawn watering. With ten years of drought behind us due to Climate Change some small towns are already having problems with their wells running dry.
Thinking about moving down here? Come visit, spend your vacation here, but go back home. You'll be better off. We already have enough people living here. The schools are overcrowded and the teachers are poor. Do your kids a favor.
HERE in Az. it will be 110 degrees but without the humidity and that is a blessing, most of the day time is spent inside where it is cooler with ac, i know most of the mid to eastern coast is without power and this means no ac or refrigeration, and i am praying for all of you to get the power back on asap, All i can say is hang in there as it will not last for ever, just saying keep your tempers in check as hard as it may be, good luck to all who are in the heat.
No place is perfect, if there was such a place here on earth, we'd all be living there.
Yep, and then it wouldn't be perfect anymore.