Dr Alex George, a former emergency care doctor and TV star, has issued a warning to people taking antidepressants as the UK experiences a heatwave with temperatures expected to reach 40°C. The Met Office has issued a rare red warning for extreme heat across parts of the UK, in force until Friday.
Medications Affect Heat Regulation
In a TikTok video shared with his 1.1 million followers, Dr Alex explained that certain mental health medications, including some antidepressants (such as SNRIs and SSRIs) and antipsychotics, can affect the body's temperature regulation, making individuals more sensitive to heat. He said: "So many people don't realise that mental health medication, many of them affect how you deal with the heat, not just your skin and how sensitive you can be to sunshine, but also your body's ability to deal with it."
Dr Alex, who served as an Emergency Medicine doctor at University Hospital Lewisham until 2021, added: "That's why a lot of people that are taking, say for example, Sertraline, Citalopram, even antipsychotics, can feel the effects of the heat way more than people without, or even they might think, well actually I never used to have such a problem with it, but now I'm really struggling. It's not in your head; it's a real experience."
Practical Cooling Tips
Dr Alex advised people to check the leaflet that comes with their medication or search reputable sources online for information. He offered practical tips to stay cool: "One of the best tricks you can use that I think does really work is to actually get a kitchen towel, dampen it and put it in the freezer, have two kitchen towels on the go, one that you are using at the time, the other one that's in the freezer, and rotate them. Put it over your neck or your chest and it helps kind of cool your body down quite a lot. If you add a fan to that as well, you have a fan on your body and also have the cloth as well that can really cool the body temperature down."
He also emphasized the importance of hydration: "The other part of it is drink loads of water. Like, if you're taking these meds often, you sweat way more. So in the heat, I mean, so drink loads of water. Sometimes you don't realise how dehydrated you are." Dr Alex, who was diagnosed with ADHD at age 30 in 2022, noted that people with ADHD often don't recognise when they are thirsty and recommended carrying a water bottle.
Background on Dr Alex George
In October 2025, Dr Alex was also diagnosed with OCD and later paid for a private autism assessment, which confirmed his diagnosis earlier this year. He says signs of the condition were apparent as a child. During his autism assessment, he questioned whether he would benefit from it, having already been diagnosed with ADHD, which he says was the "best decision I've ever made."
