Doordarshan Anchor fainted due to Heatstroke in a live Show

Lopamudra Sinha, a Doordarshan anchor fainted during live reporting of Heatstroke in West Bengal. She shared her story on Facebook how being dehydrated resulted in a state of loss of consciousness. Also, she stated that she was feeling unwell before starting the broadcast. She went for broadcasting after having a glass of water to make herself comfortable. However, she didn’t get any chance to drink water until much later in the program to keep herself hydrated due to the nature of the broadcast. This ultimately led to slurred speech and blurred vision, despite all these, she was making efforts to complete the broadcast but she found that teleprompter faded away and she lost consciousness.

The rapidly rising temperature is becoming unbearable every year and leading to various adverse physiological consequences such as thirst Dehydration-imbalance between water consumption and more fluid loss, leads to disruption of normal functioning and adverse health consequences like dry mouth, coma, disorientation, and confusion. Sometimes high heat leads to Heat exhaustion and due to not having proper intervention, it results in Heat stroke.

Also Read: Beat the Heat: Understanding the Heat Stress

Heat stroke

When the temperature of the body reaches 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), heatstroke can happen with adverse outcomes like kidney damage, dizziness, nausea, confusion and cell death and even it can cause severe damage to the brain and nervous system if the body temperature is not lowered quickly. These physical health impacts directly influence the mental health and well-being of the person.

For instance, confusion connected with Heatstroke can be accompanied by agitation, changes in behavior and possibly hallucinations in more severe cases, Increased irritability and concentration difficulties can be caused due to fatigue and discomfort from dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Also Read: Heatwaves and their consequences on mental health

Additionally, the relationship between heat and mental health is supported by many studies and these studies found the following facts:

1. Chronic heat stress: A study conducted by Moustaq Karim Khan Rony and Hasnat M. Alamgir from Bangladesh, demonstrates that chronic heat stress can result in increased stress, anxiety, and cognitive issues, especially for vulnerable groups such as very young, older adults, and people with pre-existing mental health conditions.
2. Hospital admission: The risk of hospital admission for mental and behavioral disorders increases during heat waves. A study conducted by Aguglia et al. showed around a 40% rise in the probability of hospital admission for mood disorders like depression and mania during High heat.
3. Suicide rate: High temperature is connected with increased suicide rates. Even an increase in 1° C on average monthly temperature increases the rates by 1 %. (Hu et al.)

The awareness of the adverse consequences of High temperature on mental health and the various coping strategies to lessen its effects such as staying hydrated, practising relaxation techniques, seeking shade, and prioritising self-care needs to be reached to everyone. Furthermore, emotional support and a sense of community can be obtained by nurturing social connections, and support networks. Apart from this, educating people about the signs of mental health distress related to high heat is important to empower them to take precautions to enhance mental health and wellbeing.