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Weather and Mental Disorders: Heat, Humidity, & Temperature Matter
EXPOSURE TO CERTAIN WEATHER CONDITIONS can trigger severe symptoms of mental disorders, leading to the need for emergency care. That’s the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind study from the University of Albany (USA).
Today we explore how researchers used data on New York State weather and hospital emergency visits to assess how summer weather affects individuals suffering from mental disorders.
This research investigation is the first to analyze the combined effects of multiple meteorological factors across all classes of mental disorders designated by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Weather and mental health
The statewide analysis focused on two six-month study periods, May through October in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Researchers used meteorological data from a network of 126 weather stations across New York. The stations collected atmospheric and soil conditions every five minutes. The authors then analyzed temperature, relative humidity, solar radiation, rainfall, and the heat index.
