Abstract
Among the various environmental factors that influence human health and psychophysical condition, the weather and climate play an important role. Aggressive behavior can be the result of widely understood meteorological factors, such as temperature or atmospheric pressure. This is especially true for people with a high nervous system sensitivity, such as those with mental illnesses. Difficult behaviors might result in conflicts and, in the case of a psychiatric ward, an increased risk of coercive measures being employed. In turn, this might have a negative impact on the treatment process itself and therefore the quality of healthcare.
The most frequently mentioned meteorological risk factors for aggressive and auto-aggressive behavior are air temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed. The seasonality of the impact of the weather (specific months or seasons) is also important. The weather can also synergistically affect the human body through the influence of different weather elements at the same time.
However, meteorological factors should not be considered as the sole variable that causes aggressive behavior, for they affect both staff and patients. Therefore, they should be considered as one of the groups of elements that influence aggressive behavior.
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Lickiewicz, J., Piotrowicz, K., Makara-Studzińska, M. (2023). The Weather, Aggression, and Aggressive Behavior in Psychiatric Hospitals. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V.R., Patel, V.B. (eds) Handbook of Anger, Aggression, and Violence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-98711-4_65-1
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