- A study in the journal GeoHealth highlighted that during British Columbia’s extreme heat event in 2021, individuals with schizophrenia were more severely affected than those with kidney or heart disease.
- Climate change also triggers specific psychological conditions such as eco-anxiety, eco-paralysis, and solastalgia, distress caused by environmental alterations.
- Vulnerability in people with schizophrenia to heat stress may stem from hypothalamic dysfunction, which regulates vital bodily functions like temperature and heart rate.
- Antipsychotic medications can increase body temperature, exacerbating risks during heat waves.
- Additionally, such individuals may experience anosognosia, a lack of awareness of their illness, further increasing their risk during environmental stresses.
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