It will not have escaped anyone: a heat wave is currently raging in France, with 5 departments (Ardèche, Drôme, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Var and Alpes-Maritimes) placed in orange vigilance ” heat wave” by Météo France.
We know that hot weather can be (very) bad for your health. In addition to a feeling of malaise, you can also see the appearance of fever, muscle cramps, edema, up to dehydration… or even a terrible heat stroke.
Extreme heat is responsible for stress
But did you know? Extreme heat can also harm our mental health. Thus, the heat tends to make us aggressive: “physiologically, when it’s hot, our heart rate increases, the pulse is stronger, our blood pressure increases, and our level of cortisol (the stress hormone) increases so we will tend to feel more irritable“explains Élodie Gratreau, doctoral student in the history and philosophy of psychiatric care techniques at the Costech laboratory, contacted by our colleagues at HuffPost. Not to mention that the heat can interfere with sleep… which only increases nervousness and irritability.
Impulsive decisions, abnormal feeling of nervousness, lack of patience, susceptibility… The high temperatures are therefore (perhaps) for something. Moreover, according to a study conducted by theUniversity of Berkeley (in the United States) in 2013, all it takes is a temperature rise of 1°C to see the statistics of personal violence (domestic violence, murder, etc.) increase by about 4%. Morality: stay cool and relax!
Read also :
- 9 foods that hydrate when it’s hot
- Heat wave: how to protect baby from heat stroke
- Heatwave: 8 tips for cooling off without air conditioning
