Between torrential rain, heavy winds and above 30 C temperatures, Edmontonians have a bit of whiplash when it comes to the weather forecast. Recent storms have damaged homes and infrastructure, as well as contributed to the mosquito population boom, but the weather can also be having adverse effects on people’s mental health. “Particularly where we live in Alberta, we look forward to the summer … but it’s been really weird this year because first it’s been cold, then it’s been rainy, and now we’ve got smoke,” said Ganz Ferrance, a registered psychologist. “The things that we would normally do to help lift our spirits to help us feel okay … we haven’t been able to really engage in that to any significant extent yet and so there’s disappointment, there’s frustration, there’s sort of a sense of sadness and loss.” Those feelings can weigh on people, making them less efficient, less effective and more irritable, he adds. The weather isn’t enough to stop some from enjoying themselves though, like culinary adventurers at Taste of Edmonton, now in its 42nd year. “We have been an outdoor rain or shine festival since day one, and we are so used to it,” said Donovan Vienneau, the festival’s executive director. Even the smoke, the latest plague Edmonton is contending with, isn’t as bad in Churchill Square as it is in other areas, Vienneau says. Some festivalgoers, however, are a bit disappointed in the “summer” the city has seen so far. “After a long winter, you wish for a little bit of sun and heat, so you can go to the river, to the lake,” said one attendee. “Summer, I don’t feel like it’s been here yet.” Others look more on the bright side, like how the rain helps fight the smoke, even if it does end up cancelling some plans. The cause of these mixed feelings, the weather, is something beyond our control though, so it’s important to put that into perspective and be as flexible as possible, according to Ferrance. Thinking about what you want from events or activities beyond the surface level can help, he adds, for example the desire to get exercise, see friends, get out in nature. Even with poor weather conditions, there are other ways to do these things. “Our mindset creates our experience. When we choose to look at what’s not working, we’re going to feel kind of crappy,” Ferrance says. “If we choose to look at what else we can do, what is working, and what we can get out of this, it opens up our brain to find solutions.” Another technique he suggests is to plan something, for example a golf day, and put it in the calendar, potentially with contingencies. Just the anticipation of having something planned can lift a person’s mood, and that energy can be contagious too. “It might be a disappointment if we can’t actually go golfing that day, but then maybe we go to a restaurant,” Ferrance says. “We still get the anticipation time, but also we get that actual execution time, and that’s quite healthy for your brain and your nervous system.” Edmonton is forecasted to get a few days of sun and cloud with highs at or near 30 C before a chance of evening storms on Saturday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa
