Feeling sluggish on a dreary, wet day might be attributable to a myriad of reasons. Perhaps you’re not as physically active since you’re hibernating inside your home. Or, a change in atmospheric pressure might be causing a bodily discomfort like a headache. There could be other factors at phenomenal play that scientists are still struggling to grasp.
There are many areas of shadow when it comes to understanding how our energy levels might be affected by grey, rainy weather – a commonplace experience in Ireland over recent times.
“It’s quite complex to research”, comments Kelly Rohan, a psychological science professor and a practising clinical psychologist at the University of Vermont. Research in this area is rather thin, she says. People’s responses to weather conditions are not uniform, according to experts. For some, rainy days are loathsome and the absence of sunshine is particularly bothersome, while others detest the heat of a roasting summer’s day.
“A simple answer would be great, but sadly, there isn’t one,” laments Dr Paul Desan, a psychiatrist and head of the Winter Depression Research Clinic at Yale School of Medicine.
Reliable research has sought to dissect how elements of a day such as temperature, atmospheric pressure, and the amount of sunshine or rain, might impact mood while also taking into account other factors such as the season and outdoor exposure. Most studies have evaluated mood rather than just energy levels, says Prof Rohan. This usually involves asking people broad questions about their feelings and their level of alertness or activity.
In her understanding of the existing research, Prof Rohan suggests that weather’s influence on daily mood tends to be either ‘very subtle or completely negligible’.
Past research in this area includes a 2010 study involving over 14,000 Dutch participants, which concluded that weather didn’t notably impact low mood. A 2008 study in Germany involving over 1,200 participants reported that weather had a limited effect on mood and that both sunny and rainy days were linked to feelings of fatigue.
Prof Rohan emphasises that it’s likely other factors – the everyday struggles related to relationships or work, for example – tend to impact mood far “more than the weather forecast.”
Experts warn against misinterpreting temporary lethargic spells as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a more serious form of depression. SAD is more prevalent in women and has a tendency of being hereditary. Characteristically, it begins to surface in fall or winter and persists irrespective of daily weather changes until it fades away by the time spring arrives. Note, SAD can also be experienced during spring and summer. The onset of SAD in winter is not due to cloudy weather but rather the short days that result in later sunrises than in spring or summer.
Prof Alfred Lewy, an esteemed faculty member of psychiatry and an authority on circadian rhythm disorders, commented, “There’s sufficient light even on a cloudy day to treat winter depression; however, the timing of exposure is essential.” He emphasises the efficacy of bright light therapy for SAD when administered shortly after waking up.
Misconceptions may persist that the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin could lead to feelings of drowsiness during dull weather days, given its nightly production and association with darkness. However, as Dr Lewy explains, regardless of the presence of light, the body’s internal clock disables melatonin in the morning, so this hormone isn’t directly linked to daytime tiredness.
If you’re feeling drained on a bleak day, ensuring better sleep quality and introducing energy-enhancing activities into your routine, such as interspersed physical movements or a healthy diet, could give you the lift you require. – Originally reported in the New York Times.