Weather and emotional state: a search for associations between weather and calls to telephone counseling services

Driscoll, Dennis M.; Stillman, Daniel N.

doi:10.1007/s00484-002-0136-0

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(30 reference statements)

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“…Most studies regarding psychiatric disorders and weather have assessed general variables such as overall emergency consultations (García-Carretero et al 1989;Maes et al 1994;Makie et al 2002), number of telephone calls (Driscoll and Stillman 2002;Hribersek et al 1987;Noble 1996), or suicide rates (Barker et al 1994;García et al 1991;Linkowski et al 1992;Maes et al 1993;Salib 1997;Salib and Gray 1997;Wang et al 1997). Results have been more suggestive when studying specific illnesses (schizophrenia, mania, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Panic anxiety, under the weather?

Bulbena¹,

Pailhez²,

Aceña³

et al. 2004

Int J Biometeorol

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The relationship between weather conditions and psychiatric disorders has been a continuous subject of speculation due to contradictory findings. This study attempts to further clarify this relationship by focussing on specific conditions such as panic attacks and non-panic anxiety in relation to specific meteorological variables. All psychiatric emergencies attended at a general hospital in Barcelona (Spain) during 2002 with anxiety as main complaint were classified as panic or non-panic anxiety according to strict independent and retrospective criteria. Both groups were assessed and compared with meteorological data (wind speed and direction, daily rainfall, temperature, humidity and solar radiation). Seasons and weekend days were also included as independent variables. Non-parametric statistics were used throughout since most variables do not follow a normal distribution. Logistic regression models were applied to predict days with and without the clinical condition. Episodes of panic were three times more common with the poniente wind (hot wind), twice less often with rainfall, and one and a half times more common in autumn than in other seasons. These three trends (hot wind, rainfall and autumn) were accumulative for panic episodes in a logistic regression formula. Significant reduction of episodes on weekends was found only for non-panic episodes. Panic attacks, unlike other anxiety episodes, in a psychiatric emergency department in Barcelona seem to show significant meteorotropism. Assessing specific disorders instead of overall emergencies or other variables of a more general quality could shed new light on the relationship between weather conditions and behaviour.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Panic anxiety, under the weather?

Bulbena¹,

Pailhez²,

Aceña³

et al. 2004

Int J Biometeorol

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“…He finds that the sunshine only influenced the overall intensity of participants' mood reports, not the valence of these reports. Driscoll and Stillman (2002) analyzed the calls to telephone counseling services ("hotlines") each serving communities in a major metropolitan area of the United States (Detroit, Washington DC, Dallas and Seattle) for the period 1997-1998. They investigated associations with subjectively derived weather types for all cities except Seattle, as well as with individual weather elements as cloudiness, precipitation, wind speed, and interdiurnal temperature change for all four cities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of weather and its changes on emotional state – individual characteristics that make us vulnerable

Spasova

2012

Adv. Sci. Res.

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Abstract. Given the proven effects of weather on the human organism, an attempt to examine its effects on a psychological and emotional level has been made. Emotions affect the bio tone, working ability, and concentration; hence their significance in various domains of economic life such as health care, education, transportation, and tourism.The present pilot study was conducted in Sofia, Bulgaria over a period of eight months, using five psychological methods: Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Test for Self-assessment of the emotional state, Test for evaluation of moods and Test "Self-confidence-Activity-Mood". The FiodorovChubukov's complex-climatic method was used to characterize meteorological conditions in order to include a maximal number of meteorological elements in the analysis. Sixteen weather types are defined depending on the meteorological elements values according to this method. Abrupt weather changes from one day to another, defined by the same method, were also considered.The results obtained by t-test showed that the different categories of weather led to changes in the emotional status, which indicates a character either positive or negative for the organism. The abrupt weather changes, according to expectations, have negative effects on human emotions -but only when a transition to the cloudy weather or weather type, classified as "unfavorable", has been realized. The relationship between weather and human emotions is rather complicated since it depends on individual characteristics of people. One of these individual psychological characteristics, marked by the dimension "neuroticism", has a strong effect on emotional reactions in different weather conditions. Emotionally stable individuals are more "resistant" to the weather influence on their emotions, while those who are emotionally unstable have a stronger dependence on the impacts of weather.

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“…The latter are mostly women (50 to 80%), having an increase in the incidence of emotional conflicts, various health disorders and even chronic diseases in relation to weather changes. [1][2][3][4][5] Pregnancy constitutes a specific sex-related susceptibility factor because the individual adaptive capability of the expectant mother becomes weaker and accordingly her reactions to atmospheric environmental changes are stronger. [6][7][8][9] Further, pregnancy complications may occur as a result of exacerbations of chronic problems, due to extreme variations of several meteorological parameters or weather perturbations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The influence of meteorological factors on the emergence of preterm delivery and preterm premature rupture of membrane

2008

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Objective: To evaluate the influence of changes in the atmospheric state on the incidence of preterm delivery (PTD) and preterm premature rupture of membrane (PPROM).Study Design: The hospital records of PTD and/or PPROM over the year 1999 were reviewed. The current meteorological state was described by a set of parameters and their diurnal and seasonal variations. Multivariate analysis, time series approach and Poisson regression were used.Result: PTD occurrence was correlated with humidity and maximum temperature (P<0.01), its rise preceded their sharp variations by 3 days (P<0.01). PPROM was influenced by the variations in the weather state: desert heat wave arrival (P ¼ 0.093), strong winds, overall daily differences of humidity and temperature (all with P<0.05). Conclusion:The rates of PTD and PPROM are affected by an ensemble of meteorological variables, specific for each disorder. Obstetricians should be aware of the influence of unstable weather on PTD and PPROM rates, especially in the spring and autumn.

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Weather and emotional state: a search for associations between weather and calls to telephone counseling services

Cited by 17 publications

References 31 publications

Panic anxiety, under the weather?

Panic anxiety, under the weather?

The effect of weather and its changes on emotional state – individual characteristics that make us vulnerable

The influence of meteorological factors on the emergence of preterm delivery and preterm premature rupture of membrane

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