Do you ever feel drowsy on a rainy day? Or extra happy and kind-hearted on a sunny day? The weather outside can actually affect your mood.
Research says hotter weather can bring a depressed person up. Greater amounts of sunlight and less amounts of wind decrease negative feelings. However, no research has found that weather improves a positive mood. Higher or lower temperatures will quickly affect the mood negatively. A lot of people refer to themselves as having ‘seasonal depression’ usually during the winter. This seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a real depressive disorder where a persons major depressive episodes are connected to a certain season. Studies show that those who suffer from SAD are affected by the lack of light during the darker winter months, and when exposed to light, usually the morning hours, they tend to feel better. Illinois weather is brutal and bipolar, so it's completely normal to feel crappy on a snowy day in October. The months and months of snow can really put me in a bad mood and make me extremely unproductive.
Research shows that sunshine can also affect our mental sharpness. Exposing skin to sunlight produces vitamin D, promoting the brain’s production of serotonin, which lifts mood. However, the impacts of weather on mood are not just biological. They are also psychological and social. One reason why heat is associated with aggression is that people interact more in public in hot weather.
Even though we mainly see people getting this during fall and winter months, it is just as common in the spring and summer months as well. Extreme heat can actually bring out the worst in people and has been linked to higher human aggression. In Chicago, violet crimes tend to spike when weather heats up late in the spring. Interestingly enough, baseball pitchers are more likely to hit batters on hot days. Heat may also increase verbal aggression. Which I can confirm; don't talk to me when I'm sweaty. Humidity tends to make people more tired and irritable.The same can be said for copious amounts of rainfall, especially where lots of rain isn't common. I know you guys would rather a cozy nap on a rainy day, then a day full of school.
Surprisingly, suicide rates peak during the spring and summer. For most people, springtime is a season of hope and excitement, as summer is just around the corner. However, for people who are depressed, it is just the opposite.
What To Do...
However, the weather doesn't have to impact your mood! Try and take advantage of the weather, especially if it's unexpected. For example, if it's a rainy day, stay inside and do something fun like watch movies or bake cookies. If it's a snowy day, go sledding or have a snowball fight and then come back inside and drink hot cocoa. You can always make the best out of the weather or anything for that matter.
One of the treatments for SAD is a bright light treatment, which is very effective. This is because the hormone serotonin, the brain hormone associated with mood elevation, rises with exposure to bright light and falls with decreased sun exposure. In the summer this disorder is healed with just sunlight. Even though you can't control the weather, you can control how you let it impact you day by day. Don't let the snow bring you down! Good vibes all around. :)