How being cold could affect your mental health this winter

The stress of not being able to heat a room or house sufficiently creates not only a financial strain, but a psychological one, writes Ian Hamilton

The solution is not complex. It costs money – but so does human misery (iStock)

There are real concerns about how many people will be able to adequately heat their homes and get enough to eat this winter. Winter in the UK already triggers excess deaths, more than there should be, given that Britain doesn’t have the coldest climate.

The impact that cold weather has on physical health is obvious. But what is less well known is the effect colder temperatures have on mental health. We are beginning to understand much more about the relationship between our physical and mental health, rather than considering these as completely separate entities.

New research highlights something that hasn’t, up to now, been well understood or given much attention – the impact of cold on mental health. Researchers tracked a group of people for several years to investigate the impact of colder temperatures on their mental health. Not only did they find that living in a colder home adversely affects mental health, but they also identified factors that contributed to this.