Feeling a little bit irritable? Restless? Frustrated? Sensitive? Impatient? Aggressive? Do you find yourself getting increasingly angry during the summer months? There’s a name for it: Summer Rage (as opposed to Summer Mcintosh, three-time Canadian Olympic swimming medallist). Hot and bothered is a more common term.

In the summertime, the living is not easy. Our baggage gets challenged and compromised. For those who thrive on structure and routine, the summertime can disrupt regular schedules. We all know the frustration of getting on and off the ferry, after a simple town appointment. And on a hot day, with no shade in sight, waiting for two hours or more is not fun, no matter how many cold beverages you may have. 

Family dynamics can be particularly challenging. Increased time spent with the kin, especially if there are unresolved conflicts or strained relationships, can amplify tensions. I certainly see this magnified 200X with visitors in the summer. It’s disconcerting witnessing mother’s yelling aggressively at their child at some minor infraction. Men verbally abusing their wives for misdirecting the camper trailer in the parking lot. Even their dogs are treated with disrespect. Wow. If this is what you are like on holiday, I don’t even want to imagine what you are like at home. 

Air rage, road rage, inanimate object rage, passive rage, narcissistic rage, summer rage. According to Gallup’s Global Emotions report, negative emotions remained at their highest level in 2023. Anger is a piece of this data, and it remains near an all-time high worldwide. Why are we so angry? We’re tired. We’re overwhelmed. We’re afraid. And we’re hot. Seneca called anger “a temporary form of insanity.” 

“As a general rule, I think all of us clinicians especially agree that there is a really interesting demonstrable relationship between heat and a whole cluster of interpersonally antisocial behaviour,” said Kim Gorgens, clinical professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver. “So, irritability, hostility, aggression, being discourteous – not necessarily criminal behaviour, although there’s an association there, too, but a much bigger bucket.” 

Studies show that violent crimes like murder and aggravated assault are much more likely to happen when the temperatures are high. Even in prisons, a 2021 study found an 18% increase in violence between inmates on really hot days. Two studies in 2021 and 2022, found that mental health-related hospital admissions and emergency department visits for conditions like anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and others increased with high temperatures. 

A 2021 study in the Lancet warned that “interpersonal violence in hot weather is likely to continue and increase in the future with increasing temperature due to climate change.” In other words, the hotter the world, the hotter we will become. Fun.

Everyone gets frustrated, upset and angry. But some people can get out of control. Are we getting angrier as a society or are we just less inhibited about acting out? We’ve all seen some form of rage at least once. Joe Kita wrote on WebMD: “I used to think these people were just jerks, but it turns out these angry outbursts may be caused by a little-known psychological condition called intermittent explosive disorder, or IED.” 

In the most recent version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, there’s a whole section on IED. (The fact that it shares an acronym with an improvised explosive device was coincidental.) 

Michael McCloskey, professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University explained: “if someone tries to punch you and you punch them back, that’s not IED. But if someone says they don’t like what you’re wearing and you punch them, that could be indicative.”

People with IED don’t plan their outbursts. They just happen. They snap. Not surprisingly, IED tends to be more common in men. Males are typically more physically aggressive, while women are more verbally aggressive. Those in their teens, 20s, and 30s, are more likely to have IED, after which it gradually eases with age, although the threat of an outburst is always lurking.

And in this mad, mad world, we have rage and anger rooms. Places where you can go and, for a fee, destroy computers, furniture, mannequins, or just about anything you’d like. The theory is that venting your anger in a controlled setting is better and safer than letting it out in the real world. The sessions can range from 15 to 30 minutes and they provide you with inanimate objects, or you can bring your own plates, cups, glasses, beer cans, wine bottles, jars, picture frames, ceramics, ornaments, old candle jars, and mason jars. But not aerosol cans, propane tanks, explosives or toilets.

In Richmond, there’s the Anger Room, “a place where you can bring all of life’s frustrations and let loose to your heart’s content.” Helmets and gloves are provided, but they do recommend that you wear “something thick as a secondary layer as there is always a chance of debris flying or ricocheting.”

“If you don’t have an aggression problem, it’s probably just good fun,” said McCloskey. “But if you do, then it’s unlikely that it’ll be an effective strategy for managing it. All it’s doing is reinforcing the way to approach a problem is to act out aggressively.”

The next time you do find yourself getting irritable on a hot day, feel free to blame the heat. It’s the rage.