A new report has found that mental health is largely being overlooked in the world’s strategies for coping with extreme heat, despite mounting evidence that rising temperatures worsen psychological distress, drive up psychiatric hospital admissions, and increase suicide risk.
The report, published by United for Global Mental Health in partnership with Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute, the University of Oxford, and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, examined 143 heat action plans from 40 countries and 11 global policy documents. It found that 57% of these plans mention mental health in some form, but only 24% address it meaningfully – for instance by detailing specific mental health impacts or interventions. Just 14% include concrete measures to protect mental health during heatwaves.
The findings build on an earlier global review of 83 dedicated heat-health action plans, which similarly found that while three-quarters mentioned mental health, only around a fifth included specific interventions, and actions were rarely backed by dedicated funding or monitoring.
Researchers say the gap is striking given the strength of the evidence linking heat to psychiatric harm. One meta-analysis cited in the report found heatwaves were associated with nearly a 10% rise in hospital admissions for mental health conditions and a 1.5% increase in suicide deaths for every 1°C rise in monthly average temperature.
People with severe conditions such as schizophrenia appear especially vulnerable – during the 2021 ‘heat dome’ event in British Columbia, Canada, living with schizophrenia was linked to a threefold increase in mortality risk.
The report attributes these harms to a mix of biological, psychological and social factors, including disrupted sleep, side effects of psychiatric medications, social isolation and food insecurity. It also draws on testimony from a lived-experience advisory group in Australia, India, Nepal and Pakistan, who described heat’s toll as cumulative, exhausting and largely unacknowledged by formal health and emergency systems.
To illustrate what works, the report highlights six case studies from around the world, including a Red Crescent-led psychosocial support programme launched during a 2024 heatwave in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
In South Australia, a heat-health warning system that includes daily welfare checks through the Red Cross Telecross REDi service has shown a benefit-cost ratio of up to 3.3 . In Pakistan, community mental health teams integrated hydration and cooling support into routine care. Delhi’s homeless shelters installed cooling points and provided heat-relief kits .
The report’s authors set out four recommendations for policymakers: recognising heat’s mental health impacts, highlighting the heightened risk to people with severe mental health conditions, monitoring mental health outcomes to strengthen early-warning systems, and ensuring concrete, funded interventions are built into heat and mental health planning.
With roughly 160 countries still lacking any dedicated heat action plan, the authors argue there is a significant opportunity to embed mental health considerations from the outset, rather than retrofitting it later.
The full port can be read here.
Photo: Franz26