INFOGRAPHICWELL-BEINGWOMEN & MIDLIFE

How to Stay Safe in the Summer Heat While on Antidepressants

By Josey Murray
Reviewed by Susan Ko, Ph.D.
August 21, 2025
Did you know? Taking SSRI medication can make you more sensitive to heat and increase your risk of heat exhaustion. These antidepressant medications can impair your body’s ability to keep cool, which causes your body’s core temperature to increase when you’re exposed to heat. Source: Horseman, M., et al. (2022) Drug-Induced Hyperthermia Review. Cureus.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) can be an essential part of mental health treatment. If you’re taking one of these antidepressants, it’s important to know how these medications can affect your body when you’re exposed to high temperatures. According to the CDC, taking an SSRI puts you at higher risk for being negatively impacted by heat.

Taking these medications impacts the body’s ability to keep cool, leading to an increased core body temperature and higher risk of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which include symptoms like nausea, dizziness, headache, confusion, and rapid pulse.

The CDC says that SSRIs like Fluoxetine and Sertraline, as well as some Serotonin and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs) like Duloxetine and Venlafaxine, can cause increased sweating, too. One study suggests that around 10% of people who take an antidepressant experience excessive sweating.

What does this mean for you if you’re taking one of these medications? Be careful to stay hydrated on hot days to account for the fluid lost through sweating. And listen to your body. If it feels uncomfortable being in the heat outside, stay indoors to keep cool.

Ask your healthcare or mental health provider for more information and personalized advice for any concerns.