Summertime blues

hot humid weather makes most anxiety sufferers feel worse

God, I hate the heat and humidity, too, and we get an abundance of both in Texas. I have no idea why my ancestors came here.

So, yeah, it makes me worse, too. When it's 100+ degrees with high humidity, hardly anyone wants to go outside. And when it's still 95 degrees at 11:30 at night and the humidity's even worse, you don't even want to go out then, either. I tend to stay inside a lot and gain weight, historically. And when you do get outside and you've been in the air-conditioning, there's this incredible pressure to get out of the sun at all costs, especially if you're in work attire. You go from zero to very sweaty in literally just a few seconds.

So when you're not going outside and are more sedentary, more anxiety's a given. I've lived in more moderated climates: LA and DC. In LA it was always pretty cool except if you were a few miles from the ocean and were out in the sunlight. The nights were awesome, especially if you were on the beach. And in DC it would get really, really hot sometimes (maybe even hotter than it does here), but they actually got cool fronts and rain there. For every day it was 100 degrees, you'd have one that only made it up to 80 or so. Much more variation.

Texas is hot ALL the time (look at this: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KATT/2006/8/28/MonthlyHistory.html) Every single day and night, all summer long, and it's our longest season. It's even worse in Houston and Louisiana, where you have the heat and insane humidity.

Before air conditioning, people made due the best they could by making ice cream or drinking beers on the porch with their neighbors. They were also more acclimated to the heat. So they were social whereas we (in the extreme climates anyway) retreat to our air conditioned homes and apartments. I think there's something to that, too.

Anyway, I LOVE to complain about the weather. It's like I'm an old man or something.