The number of young Australians presenting to hospital with suicidal thoughts or behaviour increases during hotter weather. or signup to continue reading University of NSW-led found suicidal emergency department presentations by 12 to 24-year-olds increased by 1.3 per cent for every one degree rise in daily mean temperature.
The study analysed 55,000 presentations at hospitals across NSW between November and March from 2012 to 2019. The spikes occurred on single hot days and were not limited to heatwaves when trouble sleeping was likely to be a contributing factor, lead author Cybele Dey said. "The heat itself looks to be doing something to increase people's distress and that is supported by other literature," said Dr Dey, a UNSW psychiatrist and lecturer.
"We know that calls to mental health crisis lines go up with temperature and there are overseas studies showing a link between heat exposure and suicidality presentations." The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists said clinicians were increasingly concerned about the risk of rising temperatures to young people's health. "Climate change isn't a distant threat - it's here, affecting the health and wellbeing of people everywhere," NSW branch chair Pramudie Gunaratne said.
"Extreme weather events contribute to intensifying anxiety, depression, PTSD, sleep disruption and suicidal thoughts, especially in young people." She said help was often too hard or too expensive for young people to access and that gover.
