Extreme heat in Louisiana prisons spikes suicide watch needs by about 30%, new study finds

Being in prison during a hot Louisiana summer is so miserable that prisoner suicide watch incidents increased significantly on extreme heat days, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “Researchers from Emory University analyzed data from 2015 to 2017 to examine how the heat index related to suicide watch incidents in six prisons. At the time, only one had air conditioning," reports Gina Jiménez for Inside Climate News. "The study adds to the body of research that has found a link between suicide and hot weather, but also to new research on prison mortality and climate."

Studies on prison population health are rare. "The walls and restrictions that keep these individuals out of public life also keep them out of the public eye: most of what we know about people in prison comes from the prison system itself," reports the Prison Policy Initiative, which is why this new study is important. Grady Dixon, a climatologist from Fort Hays University, told Jiménez: "It’s so novel, and I am very excited that it is being published in a medical journal. Any shortcomings the study can have are just minor compared to the widespread impact this paper can have just by publicizing this issue."

The study defined extreme heat using categories and the heat index. Jiménez explains, "The number of people put under suicide watch increased 36 percent when the heat index was above 90 degrees. . . . Scientists have consistently found that unusually hot weather is often associated with suicides and other adverse mental health outcomes."

"Although not every person put on suicide watch commits suicide, it’s a measure of the distress that happens during heat," said David Cloud, the study’s lead author. Cloud told Jiménez, “Prison is stressful enough, and then you add this layer of heat that people are powerless to escape."