If you think you feel depressed when the weather is not good, you're right! It's a common observation that, on dark cloudy days, we are more likely to feel sad, and whenever the sun comes back, it brings back happiness with itself.
Bad weather can make us feel sad
Anyone ever experienced seasonal affective disorder understands it very well. In winter and autumn, when the weather is mostly cloudy and the sunlight is not sufficient, many experience depression.
Everything about your mood is related to a brain chemical named serotonin. The sunlight stimulates serotonin secretion in your body. When serotonin goes up, it makes you energetic and happy.
Bad weather can disorder your sleep
When the sunlight hits our skin, it affects the level of the hormone melatonin indirectly. Melatonin is a hormone responsible for regulating your sleep. At night, when melatonin level increases in your body, you will feel drowsy and prepared to sleep.
When the weather is cloudy or rainy, due to lack of sunlight and consequently lack of serotonin and melatonin secretion, your circadian rhythm cannot get synchronized with the sun very well, and it may disturb your sleep.
How to prevent become depressed in cloudy days?
Exposure to sunlight is mostly related to vitamin D levels. When the sunlight hits your skin, your body starts making vitamin D. In cloudy days, you can increase your serotonin level with vitamin D supplementation. Not only does vitamin D prevent feelings of sadness, but it prevents you from diseases such as heart disease, cancers, diabetes(both type).
Suggested Reading: Strong Link Between Irregular Sleep Time With Obesity, Diabetes, High Cholesterol
