Why Extreme Heat Is So Dangerous For Those With Schizophrenia

"On July 12, 2022, Stephan Goodwin left his home with a drawstring bag and a gallon of water, fleeing the voices in his head. He never came back.

Last year, 425 people died of extreme heat in Phoenix. Many, including Goodwin, had a condition making them more vulnerable to a hotter climate: schizophrenia.

On an isolated street a few steps from the looming, cactus-peppered slopes of South Mountain, there was nowhere to hide from the heat. It was one o’clock on a Thursday in July 2022, and temperatures had already climbed to around 109 degrees. The sun scorched the surface of the road, sending waves of heat up into the stagnant air.

And Stephan Goodwin was walking right through it."

Shannon Osaka, Erin Patrick O'Connor, and John Muyskens report for the Washington Post September 6, 2023.

Source: Washington Post, 09/07/2023