Heat and mental health: Doctors urging mindfulness about your sleep amid soaring temperatures

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- On another 100-degree day in Houston, many families were out at the Levy Park splash pad as temperatures rose Tuesday morning.

And while one of the main impacts of the extreme heat is physical, it's important to consider how the heat can also impact one's mental health, too.

SEE ALSO: The long-term health impacts caused by hot and humid conditions

In a recent interview with ABC News, a family physician, Dr. Beth Oller, explained how extreme heat affects our ability just to self-function and self-regulate during the day, impacting our cognitive and emotional state. Some of the minor impacts could be increased irritability and frustration, a shorter attention span, delayed memory and recall, and taking longer than usual to complete tasks.
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But others can be more serious, and one major warning sign that heat is impacting your mental health is if you're having trouble sleeping.

"Insomnia is really one of the most significant public health problems that we have as a society right now," Dr. Joshua Morganstein, chair of the American Psychiatric Association's committee on the Psychiatric Dimensions of Disaster, said. "When people are hot during the day - if you have, for instance, lower socioeconomic status - you aren't able to afford air conditioning or find your way to a place where you might be able to cool down. Or your hot day turns into a hot night - this can certainly affect people's ability to sleep. And poor sleep is associated with all sorts of different types of accidents."

RELATED: How extreme heat disproportionately impacts low-income families and communities of color in Houston

But for many Houstonians, it's just about getting through the day and trying to stay cool, which is something Kelly Ransdell reminds her kids when scheduling their lives and encouraging a positive outlook.
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"It's hard, but (it) also teaches them resilience, and they don't always get what they want," Ransdell said. "But I'm with them, and we are trying to together to enjoy popsicles and make the most of it. It's definitely made us have to rearrange your schedule. I am finding myself waiting for October or November to be here, and I keep telling them to wait."



While southeast Texas waits for that first fall cold front, Houstonians will still try to make the most of the unending heat together.

SEE ALSO: A climatologist's 2 factors for Houston's abnormally warm mornings


Climate change link to Houston is experiencing several days of triple-digit weather, experts say