Have you ever found yourself to be sleepy or even sad and depressed on rainy days? What about happy and upbeat when the sun is up? Many people don’t realize how much the weather affects one’s mood. When it is cold and rainy outside, most people want to stay inside where it is warm and cozy rather than going outside and getting soaked by the rain. Staying inside during rainy days and not being able to see the sun causes a person to receive more melatonin in their body which results in them feeling more tired or depressed during these cold days.
On sunny days, people find themselves to be more motivated by going outside and finding more physical activities to do. Rain does not hold people back from doing things they want to do in the summer the way it limits people in the winter. Many people feel more energetic in the summer because they can easily find activities to participate in. Having more energy causes someone to feel more upbeat and happy. The sun may bring out people’s good side, but it can also bring out their bad. Some people believe that when it is hot out it makes people more irritable and cranky. There have been studies that link weather with long periods of high temperatures to more crime and even a higher suicide rate.
Despite reports of the “winter blues”, new findings show that people tend to commit suicide more often in the warmer months rather than the colder ones. Australian researchers found that, throughout a 10 year period, suicide rates peaked in the summer and spring and actually fell to its lowest level during the winter. Earlier research has shown that longer periods of sunlight may increase brain levels of serotonin, a chemical in the brain linked to depression. Brain levels of serotonin were actually found to decrease during the cooler months, which means in the spring and summer the level of serotonin a person has is actually higher. Therefore, it causes people to have more suicidal thoughts in the warmer months instead of the winter.
Many people do not realize suicide rates peak during summer and spring. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a mood disorder that is said to happen every year at the same time to people with the disorder. It is said that SAD is caused by reduced sunlight during fall and winter. As you can see, reduced sunlight actually lowers a person’s level of serotonin which means it is not really the cause of SAD.
Weather has a much bigger impact on someone’s mood as people think. The weather can influence a person’s mood in negative and positive ways. There is nearly 40 years of research which proves the weather can affect a person’s change in mood. If you find yourself moody on rainy days or extra cranky on extremely hot summer day, you have proven that the weather does have some sort of impact on people’s mood.
