The Summer Heat, Mental Health, and Medications: Why Taking Care of Yourself Matters More Than You Think

Summer often brings images of vacations, sunshine, and time spent outdoors. While warmer weather can improve mood for some people, extreme heat can also place significant stress on both the body and the mind. During heat waves, many people notice increased irritability, fatigue, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, or worsening symptoms of depression. For individuals taking psychiatric medications, hot weather may pose additional health risks because some medications affect the body's ability to regulate temperature and hydration (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2025).

Understanding how heat impacts mental health, and knowing how to protect yourself, can help you stay safe and continue caring for your emotional well-being all summer long.

Heat Doesn't Just Affect Your Body. It Affects Your Mind.

Research continues to demonstrate a strong relationship between extreme temperatures and mental health. Higher temperatures have been associated with increases in:

• Anxiety

• Irritability

• Depression symptoms

• Emotional dysregulation

• Aggression

• Sleep disruption

• Psychiatric emergency visits

• Suicide risk (Burke et al., 2018; Thompson et al., 2018)

  
  

There are several reasons this occurs.

Heat places stress on the body's nervous system. It can disrupt sleep, increase dehydration, elevate heart rate, and make it more difficult for the brain to regulate emotions. Many people also reduce outdoor activities during excessive heat, leading to increased isolation and decreased physical activity. Both social connection and physical movement are protective factors for mental health.

If you already live with anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, ADHD, or another mental health condition, you may notice symptoms become more difficult to manage during prolonged periods of extreme heat.

Mental Health Medications and Heat

Many psychiatric medications are both safe and effective, and you should never stop taking a medication without first speaking to your prescribing provider. However, it is important to know that some medications can increase your body's vulnerability during hot weather.

According to the CDC (2025), certain medications may:

• Reduce your ability to sweat

• Alter your body's temperature regulation

• Increase dehydration

• Affect thirst cues

• Increase dizziness or fainting

• Become more concentrated in the body if dehydration occurs

Examples include:

• Some antidepressants (SSRIs, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants)

• Antipsychotic medications

• Mood stabilizers such as lithium

• Stimulant medications used to treat ADHD

• Anti-anxiety medications that can cause sedation

For example, dehydration can increase lithium concentrations in the bloodstream, potentially leading to toxicity. Some antipsychotic medications may impair sweating, making it harder for the body to cool itself. Certain antidepressants may increase sweating while others decrease it. Both situations can contribute to difficulties maintaining a healthy body temperature (CDC, 2025).

These medications remain important treatments for many individuals. The goal is not to discontinue medication. Instead, it is to take additional precautions during periods of extreme heat.

Evidence-Based Ways to Protect Your Mental Health During a Heat Wave

Stay Hydrated Before You Feel Thirsty

By the time you feel thirsty, your body may already be mildly dehydrated. Even mild dehydration has been associated with reduced concentration, increased fatigue, irritability, and lower mood.

Try to:

• Carry a reusable water bottle.

• Drink water consistently throughout the day.

• Increase fluids if you are sweating more than usual.

• Eat water-rich foods such as watermelon, cucumbers, berries, oranges, and lettuce.

If you have medical conditions such as kidney disease or heart failure that require fluid restrictions, follow your healthcare provider's recommendations.

Prioritize Cooling Your Body

When temperatures climb, reducing heat exposure becomes one of the most effective ways to protect both your physical and mental health.

Helpful strategies include:

• Staying indoors during the hottest part of the afternoon

• Using air conditioning whenever possible

• Visiting libraries, shopping centers, or community cooling centers if your home becomes too warm

• Wearing lightweight, loose-fitting clothing

• Taking cool showers

• Using cool towels on your neck or wrists

• Carry a fan

The CDC also notes that fans become less effective when indoor temperatures exceed approximately 90°F and should be combined with other cooling strategies (CDC, 2025).

Protect Your Sleep

Sleep disruption is one of the quickest ways to worsen anxiety, depression, emotional regulation, and stress tolerance.

Research consistently shows that warm nighttime temperatures reduce both sleep quality and sleep duration.

To improve sleep during hot weather:

• Keep your bedroom as cool as possible.

• Use breathable cotton sheets.

• Avoid vigorous exercise immediately before bedtime.

• Limit caffeine later in the day.

• Maintain a consistent bedtime routine.

Adjust Physical Activity

Exercise is one of the best tools we have for supporting mental health. During a heat wave, however, it may need to look different.

Consider:

• Walking early in the morning

• Exercising after sunset

• Moving workouts indoors

• Reducing intensity if you begin feeling overheated

Listening to your body is an important part of healthy self-care.

Maintain Your Mental Health Routine

Heat often disrupts routines. School schedules change, vacations occur, and daily habits may shift. While flexibility can be healthy, maintaining some consistency helps support emotional well-being.

Try to continue:

• Therapy appointments

• Taking medications as prescribed

• Mindfulness or grounding exercises

• Journaling

• Staying socially connected

• Engaging in hobbies that bring you joy, even if they need to move indoors

Routine helps your nervous system remain regulated during periods of environmental stress.

Check In With Vulnerable Loved Ones

Some individuals are at greater risk during periods of extreme heat, including:

• Older adults

• Children

• Individuals living alone

• People living with serious mental illness

• Individuals taking medications that affect temperature regulation

• People without reliable air conditioning

Sometimes the most meaningful intervention is simply reaching out with a phone call or text to ask how someone is doing.

Social connection remains one of the strongest protective factors for both physical and mental health.

Know the Warning Signs

Seek immediate medical attention if you or someone else develops:

• Confusion

• Difficulty waking up

• Fainting

• Rapid heartbeat

• Very high body temperature

• Hot, dry skin or excessive sweating accompanied by worsening symptoms

• Persistent vomiting

• Difficulty breathing

These may be signs of heat stroke or another medical emergency.

A Final Thought

Summer is often portrayed as a carefree season, but mental health does not take a vacation. If you notice your mood changing, your anxiety increasing, or you simply do not feel like yourself during periods of extreme heat, there may be a biological explanation. Your body and brain are working harder to adapt to the environment around you.

Taking care of yourself during a heat wave is not just about staying physically comfortable. It is also about protecting your emotional well-being. Staying hydrated, getting enough rest, maintaining routines, and knowing how your medications may interact with heat are all important ways to care for yourself this summer.

If you are taking psychiatric medications and have questions about how they may interact with hot weather, speak with your prescribing provider or pharmacist before making any changes. Staying informed is one of the best ways to protect both your physical health and your mental well-being.

References

Burke, M., González, F., Baylis, P., Heft-Neal, S., Baysan, C., Basu, S., & Hsiang, S. (2018). Higher temperatures increase suicide rates in the United States and Mexico. Nature Climate Change, 8(8), 723-729.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). Heat and medications: Guidance for clinicians.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2025). About heat and your health.

Thompson, R., Hornigold, R., Page, L., & Waite, T. (2018). Associations between high ambient temperatures and heat waves with mental health outcomes: A systematic review. Public Health, 161, 171-191.