If hot temperatures cause you anxiety…

[saraha]

How do you cope? My person does not have AC and I have seen a marked increase in their anxiety/stress/bad mood. She spends a lot of time worrying about it getting hot, then while it’s hot feels claustrophobic and striking out at people. Going places is a temporary relief but she is stuck with young ones at home most of the time.

I totally understand why she feels this way, just clueless how to help. Today is supposed to be the last day of our extreme heat and she is completely unable to function today

[Spryte]

Can anything be done to get the temp down in her house? Window units?

 

[freesia]

Is there no way they can get a window unit?

[Arcadia]

8 minutes ago, saraha said:

Going places is a temporary relief but she is stuck with young ones at home most of the time.

When it gets that bad here, ice cream, éclairs and smoothies are the go to. We would also be blasting our air purifiers on turbo mode because it helps. Sucking ice cubes also helps.
How about fans? It is cheaper to keep a small bedroom/play room cooler with fans if there is no AC.

[kbutton]

I sometimes have to leave early or sit down, but my anxiety is actually part of the constellation of heat intolerance symptoms (can go along with migraine when overheated, MCAS when overheated, etc.), not from anticipatory worrying.

But the claustrophobia when hot is real.

I bring water. I probably should bring an umbrella when it’s possibly helpful. Sometimes I use a cooling towel, but they don’t stay cool for long. Evaporative cooling is the best. If I did outdoor stuff, I would French-braid my hair and then dump water over my head. The braid would let it evaporate a little more slowly. I have dark hair, so when I could find a hat that didn’t make me clammy, I would wear that because my hair would get hot like vinyl car seats in a closed car.

It usually becomes obvious since I turn shades of mottled red and purple and start looking physically ill, and people give me space, accommodate me, etc.

If I had no A/C, I would probably need to be hospitalized, if not for physical issues, for mental health. I grew up without it, but the number of hot days is increasing, and we had older houses with better cross-breezes and such, and we had a lot of shade. At night, I wrapped my feet in wet towels and pointed a fan at them. I was much more heat tolerant before I had kids.

[kbutton]

Timing the opening/closing/shading for various rooms or floors of the house can help. 

[kbutton]

Oh, does she have a basement? Retreating to the basement might help.

[kbutton]

Oh, cold showers, or at least a wipe down head to toe with a cold washcloth every so often helps more than it would seem like it would.

[Arcadia]

Blackout curtains also reduce a lot of the heat and glare. My teens feel a lot better after we put up black out curtains in the bedroom and dining room. We have two curtain rods per window so we tie up the blackout curtains when it is less hot and leave the normal curtains untied for privacy. 

[saraha]

She does the open windows with fans drawing cool air at night then turning the house into a cave during the day thing. She has ceiling fans in every room and box fans and a stand fan. She has not cooked all week, utilizing sandwich stuff and premade cold salads. One window unit wouldn’t work unless they closed themselves up in a bedroom as her place is like an open concept. And honestly, it was uncomfortably warm in her place yesterday, but I really think it’s the anticipation of the heat that is making her crack. 

[Dmmetler]

31 minutes ago, saraha said:

How do you cope? My person does not have AC and I have seen a marked increase in their anxiety/stress/bad mood. She spends a lot of time worrying about it getting hot, then while it’s hot feels claustrophobic and striking out at people. Going places is a temporary relief but she is stuck with young ones at home most of the time.

I totally understand why she feels this way, just clueless how to help. Today is supposed to be the last day of our extreme heat and she is completely unable to function today

Put a wet towel over a big box fan, or a bowl of ice in front of one. Basically, create an evaporative cooler. Works better in drier climates. 

[Pawz4me]

You might want to read up on Reverse SAD. Increased agitation and anxiety are among the symptoms. Most of the articles give tips for dealing with it, but a lot of it has already been covered here -- try to stay cool, use curtains to keep the sunlight out, etc. Your comment about "the anticipation of the heat" makes me think Reverse SAD. I have it and I don't have adequate words to describe how much I loathe heat and humidity and summer sun.

[kbutton]

9 minutes ago, saraha said:

but I really think it’s the anticipation of the heat that is making her crack. 

Might be time for anxiety meds then. It sounds miserable.

Can she do a lot of visiting the library or other air conditioned spaces? I assume it’s not normally this hot where she is.

I hear you on the open concept house, but my parents have square footage plus a huge cathedral ceiling room that makes about half the downstairs open-concept, and they got away with one window unit on each floor for a long time. Most of the summer, they used only the upstairs one except on super hot days.

Even cooling one area to retreat to might give her a way to cool down intermittently if it’s not the main living area.

[Katy]

It’s the time of year that portable ac units go on sale. I just googled and Home Depot has multiple options around $270. 

[kbutton]

3 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

You might want to read up on Reverse SAD. Increased agitation and anxiety are among the symptoms. Most of the articles give tips for dealing with it, but a lot of it has already been covered here -- try to stay cool, use curtains to keep the sunlight out, etc. Your comment about "the anticipation of the heat" makes me think Reverse SAD. I have it and I don't have adequate words to describe how much I loathe heat and humidity and summer sun.

Is it based on some kind of lack of something like SAD is from lack of sun, or is it just called that because the seasonality of misery is opposite?

Heat intolerance is not as okay to voice as hatred for all cool and cold weather is, and it’s irritating to say the least, especially if winter is quite mild.

I do empathize with a lack of sun in winter if it’s cloudy and brown—I grew up with real winter, but if it wasn’t snowing, it was often sunny, and when there was snow, it often was a lot brighter due to reflected light. Our winters here have little snow and super cloudy. It’s kind of gross for one reason or another where we live 9 months of the year, sigh.

[Laura Corin]

I used to sit in a cool bath with my kids while they played., when it got too hot.

[wintermom]

A portable a/c unit would probably be lovely for this person. They could control the use of it, to take off the edge and prevent even getting overheated. Once the body is really hot, a cool bath or shower would help bring the body temp down. 

[saraha]

I am going to run by with some more popsicles for the kids and try and distract her. Suggest put swimsuits on the kids and putting them in the bath. Maybe playing with them in the bath would help. And distraction. I’ve not known her a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen this behavior. We have been in a week long heat wave and if she can just make it through today the weather will turn around.

I think over the course of the week she has just used up all her tricks and coping skills. Money is an issue for them so adding the cost of running around, grabbing foods she doesn’t have to cook is adding to the stress I think. Things always seem worse when you are already stressed.
I have heard of SAD but not it’s summer equivalent. 

[Pawz4me]

22 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Is it based on some kind of lack of something like SAD is from lack of sun, or is it just called that because the seasonality of misery is opposite?

 

I don't think they really know what causes it. The most common guesses are that it's triggered by too much/too bright sunlight, which causes a decrease in melatonin production, which leads to insomnia and mood disregulation. Personally--I need melatonin to help me sleep anywhere near decently in the summer. But I'm a champion sleeper in the winter. So for me the "not enough melatonin" hypothesis could be true. Another guess is that some people are more sensitive to the uncomfortableness of high heat and humidity than others.

ETA: Psychology Today article on Reverse SAD

Edited August 30 by Pawz4me

[Clarita]

33 minutes ago, saraha said:

One window unit wouldn’t work unless they closed themselves up in a bedroom as her place is like an open concept.

I had a friend do that when it was hot at their house. Just put it into the one bedroom and spent the whole day there. I mean you can leave the room and do stuff but then you'd also have that place to retreat to.

[Lecka]

Can she try to change their schedule to sleep during the hot part of the day, and play at night?  

[HomeAgain]

Because relief is coming soon I'm not going to focus on longer solutions, but changing the color of the lightbulb might help.  During the hottest part, moving to a blue or green light for a while will help calm the brain down and the color will create a new association with the temperature.

We use one upstairs, where I can make it a tint of purple or go full green or blue. 

[Hilltopmom]

15 minutes ago, Clarita said:

I had a friend do that when it was hot at their house. Just put it into the one bedroom and spent the whole day there. I mean you can leave the room and do stuff but then you'd also have that place to retreat to.

We did this for years when we were young and broke. Running just the one window unit is not expensive, either.

[Hilltopmom]

Before we put mini splits in each room we had one large window A/C and it did keep most of the downstairs relatively cool. Shut bedrooom doors to keep the cool air out in the main living space.

This weather is going to continue in future years  so she’ll need to find a way to get some A/C or some other way to cope.

Edited August 30 by Hilltopmom

[kbutton]

52 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

The most common guesses are that it's triggered by too much/too bright sunlight, which causes a decrease in melatonin production, which leads to insomnia and mood disregulation. Personally--I need melatonin to help me sleep anywhere near decently in the summer.

Interesting! I live a lot farther west now in the time zone I grew up in, and I really struggle with winding down in the summer. In the winter, I think I don’t get active enough to get tired from too little daylight. I sleep best in fall and spring when day and dark are more balanced.

The heat intolerance is awful though. It makes me feel like I have a migraine hangover when I can’t get cool.

[MEmama]

This year I just gave in. I have put on a brave face and honestly given it my best efforts over the years, but I will simply never ever get used to heat or humidity. 
 

I bought cooling blankets. I bought another window AC unit for downstairs, and ran it and the 2 upstairs for the whole month of July. I run window fans when the AC isn’t on. I run ceiling fans, a tower fan directly next to my body while I sleep, and bought a desk fan plus those dorky but effective neck fans. I bought a travel fan. I have cooling jammies for sleep and loose clothing during the day. I hang UV film in sunny windows and open and close blinds with the sun. I am not fucking around, being hot is simply not okay with me and I am a better person for admitting it.

I don’t remember the OPs question—how to help? Buy her a window unit from Costco. Seriously. It cost us like $50 in extra electricity to run 3 AC units and actually feel comfortable at home this summer. Totally completely worth it. 

[SKL]

Hold hands under cold faucet for 10-15 seconds; feet too if practical.  Sprinkle water on your clothes.  You can even keep a spray mist thingy with you so you can reapply without going back to the bathroom.

Let yourself sweat, it will cool you down even though it's gross.

Extra hydration.

Keep your hair up in a messy bun.

Electric fan or portable AC.  (You can buy them fairly cheap.)  Or find anything stiff to fan yourself with manually.

Keep shades down when sunny.  Add another thin layer of cloth over the shade if there's still heat coming in.

Stay on the lowest possible level of the house.

Don't try to do anything you don't really need to do to keep yourself and kids alive.  Wait until it cools down.

Edited August 30 by SKL

[freesia]

3 hours ago, saraha said:

She does the open windows with fans drawing cool air at night then turning the house into a cave during the day thing. She has ceiling fans in every room and box fans and a stand fan. She has not cooked all week, utilizing sandwich stuff and premade cold salads. One window unit wouldn’t work unless they closed themselves up in a bedroom as her place is like an open concept. And honestly, it was uncomfortably warm in her place yesterday, but I really think it’s the anticipation of the heat that is making her crack. 

Part of my small kids time ( and my young childhood, too) we just had a unit in the bedroom. We would hang out in there when it was hot. But, I just moved from an open concept split level and we had a window unit that cooled the main floor just fine. There are ones that cool large areas. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Is there a reason she cant leave the house? Go to the library and read aloud books there. Go to a big box store and strap the kids into strollers and walk slowly. Find an inexpensive third space and go there in late afternoon when it’s so uncomfortable. We used to do the $1 theaters back in the day.
 

Functionally, we are meat. At high temps and high humidity we start to see actual tissue functioning changes. The stress on our bodies is cumulative, especially if temps arent dropping below 70 overnight. 
 

The closest I have ever come to cracking, mentally, was when our ac broke in south Texas and it was 100F in the house. My body physically cant handle it anymore all day and all night—even with rest, shade, electrolytes, etc. Heatstroke in my teen years broke me.

[popmom]

A properly sized window unit or portable AC will cool a very large area pretty well. I have a semi open floor plan, and we have used both a portable and a window unit during times when our central unit was broken. Both units kept our entire downstairs reasonable comfortable. That's 1700 sq ft with one 12,000 btu unit and a couple of strategically placed fans. edit to add: our window unit is only 8000 btu, and it still kept it tolerable.

I have a hard time comprehending how anyone in 2024 is living without at least one portable AC option. Maybe this person is not in the US. I just don't understand--mainly because I live in an area where AC is a non negotiable. Around here you can always find used options on Marketplace, so they are very affordable. 

Window units cool better than portable units for the same BTUs. 

Edited August 30 by popmom

[prairiewindmomma]

9 minutes ago, popmom said:

 

I have a hard time comprehending how anyone in 2024 is living without at least one portable AC option. Maybe this person is not in the US. I just don't understand--mainly because I live in an area where AC is a non negotiable. Around here you can always find used options on Marketplace, so they are very affordable. 

Window units cool better than portable units for the same BTUs. 

Poverty. People I know who dont have ac either cant afford the unit, cant afford to run it, or both.

[popmom]

13 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Poverty. People I know who dont have ac either cant afford the unit, cant afford to run it, or both.

I suppose. We have plenty of poverty in the SE, and I see lots of window units in shacks and old trailers. It really doesn't make that much difference in a power bill. And our utility company gives "low income assistance" to households who qualify. So yeah, even poor people here have AC. 

There are also federal programs. LIHEAP, I think. If you qualify for SNAP you automatically qualify for energy assistance. But you have to apply. It's not automatic.

Edited August 30 by popmom

[prairiewindmomma]

1500W x 8 hours a day x .15kwh x 30 days = $54/month. Some people dont have that.
 

Here, even new apartments dont come standard with ac, and until people died in the 2021 heatwave apartments were allowed to ban the installation of window units. Sometimes there are systemic issues at play also. 
 

Fwiw, I have a portable unit I can lend out, and I will give people $20 to cover the electricity to run it during heat waves which luckily havent lasted more than a week here. We’re at 96F currently, our historical average for this time of year is 77F. If you are in a position to help people, help them. 
 

 

[popmom]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

1500W x 8 hours a day x .15kwh x 30 days = $54/month. Some people dont have that.
 

Here, even new apartments dont come standard with ac, and until people died in the 2021 heatwave apartments were allowed to ban the installation of window units. Sometimes there are systemic issues at play also. 
 

Fwiw, I have a portable unit I can lend out, and I will give people $20 to cover the electricity to run it during heat waves which luckily havent lasted more than a week here. We’re at 96F currently, our historical average for this time of year is 77F. If you are in a position to help people, help them. 
 

 

My utility would provide assistance to pay it and I edited my above post that there are federal programs, too. 

And I agree with you. If you are able to help, we all should help. 

I think that other parts of the country that haven't historically needed AC are going to have to prioritize this they way the south has for a long time. particularly for the elderly and disabled. It is possible that people are not aware that these assistance programs exist. 

eta: out of curiosity I looked up the HEAP assistance program for New York. I came across an article that explains a lot. The fed gov gives the money to the states to allocate as they see fit. So northern states are allocating too much money for heating assistance, and they are running out of funds each summer. The article from NPR noted that this allocation is going to have to shift in light of climate change. And hopefully more regional non profits will fill in some gaps for those who don't qualify for HEAP but may be experiencing temporary financial crisis. This ((may)) partially explain why y'all are seeing more power cut offs in your area, @prairiewindmomma In the south it would surely be the same problem if the climate was getting colder and colder.

Edited August 31 by popmom

[prairiewindmomma]

Just now, popmom said:

My utility would provide assistance to pay it and I edited my above post that there are federal programs, too.

Our utility supposedly has programs for low income individuals but accessing it is a whole ‘nother issue. We’re having record numbers of utility cutoffs here. Our water program, for example, limits aid to 3 months. The electric program requires a level of poverty that makes it not accessible for most. You literally cant live at the targeted income levels if you dont already have a paid for house or heavily subsidized housing. There are a lot of people who qualify for no aid and therefore must make do…which means making choices like no ac so they can have food to eat.

 

 

[popmom]

Just now, prairiewindmomma said:

Our utility supposedly has programs for low income individuals but accessing it is a whole ‘nother issue. We’re having record numbers of utility cutoffs here. Our water program, for example, limits aid to 3 months. The electric program requires a level of poverty that makes it not accessible for most. You literally cant live at the targeted income levels if you dont already have a paid for house or heavily subsidized housing. There are a lot of people who qualify for no aid and therefore must make do…which means making choices like no ac so they can have food to eat.

 

 

That is terrible. If I knew someone in that position, I would help them myself. Maybe the federal programs would fill that gap. 

Also, it is important in your calculation to remember that an AC unit doesn't run at high wattage the whole time it is on. An 8000btu running wattage is around 715 watts. Plus...The compressor cycles on and off, so it isn't running at 715 watts constantly. I think there is a perception that it is more expensive than it actually is--if you aren't used to using AC. 

[Harriet Vane]

When I had a third-floor walkup in Chicago, the one thing that brought real relief was running a few inches of cold water in the bathtub, adding a bunch of ice cubes, and soaking my feet in there. We kept the lights off and there was just a little light peaking around the curtain. Our daughter was an infant at the time, and she thought it was terrific fun to play in the water, too. 

My neighbors in the same building did have a window unit that they used just to cool one bedroom. On the worst days they'd camp out in there during the day all together. Most of the time the kids slept fine with a fan, but I think there were times the kids slept on mats on the floor in the master bedroom. 

[prairiewindmomma]

@popmom, more people are being cut off here because electricity rates have jumped  40% since 2021, three years ago. Our latest rate hike, which took effect January 1st was 18%. Our electric utility is seeking a 10.9% hike for 2025. 
We’ve been averaging just around 4500 new cutoffs per month…4712 in April, 4303 in May…I havent seen June or July’s numbers.

Natural gas is up more than 50% 2020, and the proposed 2025 rate hike is currently sitting at 17%.

Water has doubled in the last several years.

People here just arent seeing salary increases that cover the housing and utility hikes. 

 

 

Edited August 31 by prairiewindmomma

[saraha]

I grabbed a variety of popsicles and a vegetable tray and went over for a little while. I watched the kids while she took a long cool shower and then put the kids in the bath and played with them while she sat in front of a fan and napped. A storm blew in this evening and lowered the temperature earlier than predicted. We’re supposed to be lower 80s tomorrow so hopefully she’ll be feeling better 

[mommyoffive]

7 minutes ago, saraha said:

I grabbed a variety of popsicles and a vegetable tray and went over for a little while. I watched the kids while she took a long cool shower and then put the kids in the bath and played with them while she sat in front of a fan and napped. A storm blew in this evening and lowered the temperature earlier than predicted. We’re supposed to be lower 80s tomorrow so hopefully she’ll be feeling better 

So sweet of you to do that.  I am sure the cooler weather will help so much.

[popmom]

I hope this is the last of the extreme heat you have for the year, but in case it isn’t… I sometimes do a guided meditation before bed. I thought about your friend when I opened the app. So I did a search and there are guided meditations for this. One example—“Yoga Breath to Beat the Heat”. The app I use is Insight Timer. I mean, I have no idea if she even has a smartphone… 
 

Its very kind of you to be willing to keep checking on her. 

[saraha]

40 minutes ago, popmom said:

I hope this is the last of the extreme heat you have for the year, but in case it isn’t… I sometimes do a guided meditation before bed. I thought about your friend when I opened the app. So I did a search and there are guided meditations for this. One example—“Yoga Breath to Beat the Heat”. The app I use is Insight Timer. I mean, I have no idea if she even has a smartphone… 
 

Its very kind of you to be willing to keep checking on her. 

She does, so sharing this.

[Arcadia]

6 hours ago, popmom said:

I have a hard time comprehending how anyone in 2024 is living without at least one portable AC option.

I have central air-con but we never turned it on. When kids were small, my husband would drop us off at one of the local libraries on the way to work during heat waves. I only have two kids so it was easy to stay at the library until my husband finished his work for the day. Here many elderly people would go to their neighborhood indoor malls during heat waves and spend their day there. We have cooling centers scattered around our city. My husband doesn’t have job stability so whatever money we can save from not running the central heating (winter) and air-con (summer) goes into our emergency savings. Our electric bill is already around $50 per month. Our bill used to be around $20 per month pre-pandemic. 

[popmom]

@Arcadia that’s impressive—amazing, actually! I’m pretty sure if I turned off the AC and all the lights for a month my power company would still charge me more than $50. 😂 That’s so admirable. I commend your efforts to save money and the environment. 
 

Since everything is air conditioned here, we don’t have cooling centers. We have warming centers in winter. That’s mostly for the homeless though. So interesting to live in such a geographically diverse country. 

My youngest interrupted my bedtime routine, so that meditation didn’t happen.  Always a welcome interruption. 🙂 Time to try again. 

 

Edited August 31 by popmom

[Carol in Cal.]

16 hours ago, popmom said:

A properly sized window unit or portable AC will cool a very large area pretty well. I have a semi open floor plan, and we have used both a portable and a window unit during times when our central unit was broken. Both units kept our entire downstairs reasonable comfortable. That's 1700 sq ft with one 12,000 btu unit and a couple of strategically placed fans. edit to add: our window unit is only 8000 btu, and it still kept it tolerable.

I have a hard time comprehending how anyone in 2024 is living without at least one portable AC option. Maybe this person is not in the US. I just don't understand--mainly because I live in an area where AC is a non negotiable. Around here you can always find used options on Marketplace, so they are very affordable. 

Window units cool better than portable units for the same BTUs. 

I don’t have AC.  We have a single story house and a window unit would be a high burglary risk.  And the house is old enough that AC cannot be added to the furnace without significantly increasing the size of the furnace chimney, which is on the interior wall between the kitchen and dining rooms, so it’s major surgery type construction.  

[SKL]

I have a small stand-alone unit in my 2nd-floor bedroom/office.  It's not the most fabulous, but it has made life livable on hot days.  (I work here with the door shut, and it can get really hot when the sun is beating in ... the central air doesn't do a good job of reaching my room, unless I crank it to arctic level downstairs, which I don't want to do.

There's a variety of options that don't need to be placed in a window.  Prices begin at under $50.  Something to consider if a window unit is a no-go.

[kbutton]

3 hours ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I don’t have AC.  We have a single story house and a window unit would be a high burglary risk.  And the house is old enough that AC cannot be added to the furnace without significantly increasing the size of the furnace chimney, which is on the interior wall between the kitchen and dining rooms, so it’s major surgery type construction.  

Can you do a mini split? My parents have radiant heat and never had A/C, so they went that direction. It works well!

[Hilltopmom]

1 hour ago, kbutton said:

Can you do a mini split? My parents have radiant heat and never had A/C, so they went that direction. It works well!

Yes! Mini splits are the best!! Way better than storing and carrying around heavy window units several times a year 🙂

[Ausmumof3]

This reality sucks we lived it for a while. It’s hard to judge when you experience it for a short time, because heat stress is cumulative that’s why with extended heat waves emergency services come under pressure toward the end. Many of us are originally from northern cool regions and biologically adapted to that not to the heat.

One thing that helped a bit was planning to go to a pool during the evening. Post 4pm when sun burn is less of a risk and get everyone to have a good long swim and wear themselves out and cool down so there’s some hope of sleep. 
 

Pedestal fans with a damp towel thrown over can make a mini air con effect and help things be tolerable. 
 

Drinking hydralite or sports drinks instead of water can help with preventing health issues and help get better sleep at night.

Edited August 31 by Ausmumof3

[Melissa in Australia]

On 8/31/2024 at 9:28 AM, popmom said:

A properly sized window unit or portable AC will cool a very large area pretty well. I have a semi open floor plan, and we have used both a portable and a window unit during times when our central unit was broken. Both units kept our entire downstairs reasonable comfortable. That's 1700 sq ft with one 12,000 btu unit and a couple of strategically placed fans. edit to add: our window unit is only 8000 btu, and it still kept it tolerable.

I have a hard time comprehending how anyone in 2024 is living without at least one portable AC option. Maybe this person is not in the US. I just don't understand--mainly because I live in an area where AC is a non negotiable. Around here you can always find used options on Marketplace, so they are very affordable. 

Window units cool better than portable units for the same BTUs. 

I don't have air conditioning and many people I know don't .  It is a choice that is made for environmental reasons. It is considered  bad for the environment.