The heat IS making your TMS worse

[JanAtheCPA]

https://www.vox.com/even-better/23805603/extreme-heat-impacts-mental-health (Why you feel grouchy on super hot days)

This article is reporting on factual observations, and manages to mostly miss what is obvious to me from our TMS point of view, which is that extreme heat, even more than extreme cold, ignites a primitive fear response. I've certainly felt it. When the Pacific Northwest experienced days of temperatures over 100, combined with smoke in the air and orange sunlight, it felt like the Apocalypse was upon us.

The interviewee in the article FINALLY gets around to saying this:

"A thing that people don’t tend to think about as much is that a lot of people right now, and especially a lot of young people, are already facing additional levels of anxiety and stress around climate change. Having that baseline level of anxiety already elevated because you’re anticipating future events is also a problem. It might limit our ability to cope as these events are occurring. It might reduce our resilience in the face of future summertime extremes. One of the things that I’m really interested in is what are the ways in which this anticipation of ongoing climate change is also impacting people’s need for emergency care or other types of health care."​

 

[jbrooks]

Thank you for this! My TMS is off the charts and I couldn’t figure it out, but the heat is extreme right now in southern Oregon and the fires are also burning very near us. I already feel better just reading this.

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Thanks for the timely bump, @jbrooks! A year after I posted that, and the existential crises keep piling on

I would say "stay safe and stay cool" but us TMSers are pretty good at employing physical relief measures. We just need to remember to take care of our emotional safety needs as well!

 

[ValkyrKai]

All this on top of the fact that being in high temperatures is simply exhausting and can make you’re patience wear thin pretty quickly. It’s no wonder someone might not have the wherewithal to use their usual techniques to combat symptoms.

 

[BruceMC]

Thank you for this! My TMS is off the charts and I couldn’t figure it out, but the heat is extreme right now in southern Oregon and the fires are also burning very near us. I already feel better just reading this.

The possibility of fire and having all your possessions destroyed and even losing your life obviously introduces an element of fear to the physical discomfort created by the heat itself! And fear is already known to be pain trigger.