Coping With Extreme Heat

Extreme heat means temperatures and humidity that are substantially higher than usual and expected in a place at a particular time of year. Extreme heat may last for one day or several. If it lasts more than two days, it is a heat wave. Because higher temperatures allow the Earth’s atmosphere to hold more moisture, extreme heat may be linked to heavy rain and flooding.

Higher-than-usual heat places strain on the human body. This raises the risk of heat-related illness, such as heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Some people are at greater risk for negative physical health impacts from extreme heat, including people who work outdoors, people ages 65 years and older, and infants and young children. Extreme heat may aggravate existing physical and mental health problems, as well as substance use disorder.

Signs and Symptoms of Emotional Distress

Many people experience emotional distress before, during, and after periods of extreme heat. This distress may appear in signs and symptoms such as:

Trouble sleeping, or sleeping too much
Getting angry more quickly and easily
Spending time alone and choosing to avoid or skip activities with other people
Feeling hopeless, as though things are bad and will not get better
Using or misusing alcohol or other drugs, including prescription medicines, more and in greater quantities

Learn more about warning signs and risk factors for emotional distress related to extreme heat and other disasters.

Where Can I Get Help?

The Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) is the first national hotline dedicated to providing year-round disaster crisis counseling. This toll-free, multilingual, crisis support service is available 24/7 to all residents in the U.S. and its territories who are experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.

Call or text 1-800-985-5990.

Who is at Risk for Emotional Distress?

While anyone who experiences extreme heat may be at risk of emotional distress, some groups of people are at higher risk:

People with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. People with substance use disorder, mood disorders, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders may experience worse or more severe symptoms during extreme heat than they usually do.
Older adults (adults ages 65 years and older). Extreme heat may have a greater impact on mental health and substance use and misuse (behavioral health) among older adults compared to the full population.
People with seasonal affective disorder linked to summer. Seasonal affective disorder is a mental illness that causes people to experience significant changes in mood and behavior when seasons change. While many people know seasonal affective disorder as linked to winter, there are people with the disorder who experience symptoms in summer, and it seems these symptoms may be related to heat and humidity.

Emotional Distress After Extreme Heat

People may recover and return to their usual activities more quickly after extreme heat than they can after disasters associated with greater destruction and property loss. Anyone who has lost a loved one in a period of extreme heat will grieve and may need support in coping.

Remember, too, that the anniversary of a disaster or tragic event can renew feelings of fear, anxiety, and sadness in disaster survivors. Certain sensations, such as very hot temperatures, humid weather, or sweating, can also trigger emotional distress. These and other sensations can take people right back to the event, or cause them to fear that it’s about to happen again. These “trigger events” can happen at any time.

People can experience a wide range of emotions before and after a disaster or traumatic event. There’s no right or wrong way to feel. However, it’s important to find healthy ways to cope when these events happen. Learn about coping tips for dealing with extreme heat and other types of disasters.

General Resources

About Heat and Your Health: At this part of its website, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers tips to the public for staying safe in hot weather. The web page offers suggestions for staying cool and hydrated and lists signs of overheating signaling the need for medical care. It also links to information about populations who may face greater health risks in hot weather, including older adults, infants and children, athletes, people with chronic conditions, outdoor workers, people without air conditioning, pregnant women, and pets. The web page is available in Spanish.
Cooling Centers by State: Find and access resources for cooling centers differs at the state and county level.
Extreme Heat Resources: This web page from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) defines extreme heat and suggests steps parents and families can take before, during, and after extreme heat to help children and teenagers stay healthy and cope effectively. The page lists related resources that can be viewed and downloaded.
Extreme Heat: The United States Environmental Protection Agency lists steps people can take to stay safe during periods of extreme heat. Links are provided to a resource to check air quality in your area, power outage tips, sun safety steps, and information from other federal agencies.
Extreme Heat: At this web page, Ready.gov defines extreme heat and offers tips to prepare for extreme heat, stay as safe as possible during extreme heat, and identify and respond to signs of heat-related illnesses. The page also suggests ways to keep children safe during summer break. Links to related resources are provided. The web page is available in several languages in addition to English.
Heat and Medications - Guidance for Clinicians: Intended for clinicians and patients, this part of CDC’s website explains how heat may affect people who take medications and how medications may affect individuals’ reactions to heat, offers tips for clinicians to support their patients in maximizing safety, and lists various medications that may increase risk of harm from high temperatures on hot days. The website section is available in Spanish.
Heat Illness Prevention - Information for Workers: This Occupational Safety and Health Administration web page offers workers tips and links to resources with ways to prevent heat-related illnesses. Information is also provided about personal risk factors, signs of heat illness, and how to respond to help your coworkers.
Heat.gov: This website is the official online portal for the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, a collaboration of federal partners including SAMHSA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Learn section of the website provides information about extreme heat and its health effects, as well as steps to increase safety for specific populations. The website also features tools for risk assessment, monitoring, and mitigation; planning and preparedness tips; and funding opportunities.
Heat Intolerance and Psychiatric Medications: This blog post from Psychology Today describes the ways in which some psychiatric medications can cause heat intolerance. It also provides a list of tips for dealing with heat intolerance.
Extreme Heat Can Take a Toll on Mental Health: This blog post from the American Psychiatric Association summarizes the research linking extreme heat with a range of mental health impacts and lists some groups of people especially vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat.
Extreme Heat Safety: This web page from the American Red Cross explains the meaning of different heat wave-related notifications and suggests steps to take to protect health before, during, and after a heat wave. The page defines and describes different types of heat-related illnesses and ways to help if someone is experiencing one of these illnesses.
Heat Action Plan and Tip Sheet (PDF | 2.3 MB): This tip sheet from Americares provides guidance on staying safe and healthy during hot weather. By following the suggested tips, individuals can reduce the risks associated with extreme heat.
Pet Heat Safety: This American Red Cross web page identifies steps to take if your dog may be experiencing heat stroke, as well as steps for owners of all types of pets to keep their animals safe during periods of extreme heat. The page also includes a downloadable disaster safety checklist for pets available in nine different languages.

Disaster Behavioral Health Interventions

Psychological First Aid for Schools (PFA-S) Field Operations Guide, 2nd Edition: Developed by NCTSN and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, this guide defines PFA-S, a model school communities can use to support students, their families, and staff immediately after a natural or human-caused disaster. Appendix C of the guide includes handouts for responders, parents and families, and students after a disaster.
Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide, 2nd Edition: Developed by the National Center for PTSD and NCTSN, PFA is an evidence-informed approach that disaster response workers can use to assist people in the immediate aftermath of disaster. NCTSN also provides a Spanish-language version of the guide.
Psychological First Aid Online: NCTSN offers this online course to train new disaster responders in PFA, as well as to provide a refresher training for responders who want to review this approach to disaster response. The course describes the core actions of PFA and how they can be applied after a disaster, as well as discussing provider well-being. A version of this course is available in Spanish. Both courses are available free of charge; however, to complete a course, you must create an account at the NCTSN Learning Center.

Learn more at the SAMHSA Disaster Technical Assistance Center.

Additional Resources for Acute Needs

SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline: The SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline (DDH) provides free, confidential crisis counseling and support to people in distress due to natural and human-caused disasters. The DDH is available 24/7, on all days of the year, via talk or text to 1-800-985-5990. The line also offers support in Spanish (people who call or text should press 2 for this option) and more than 100 additional languages. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can text or call the DDH at 1-800-985-5990 using their preferred relay provider. This website is available in Spanish.
988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a source of support available 24/7 to people in crisis, including people experiencing challenging reactions to disasters. Call 988 for support in English or Spanish. The website is available in Spanish.

Last Updated: 07/18/2025