How Weather Affects Mood by Liz Russo

During quarantine, I have noticed that the weather outside has had an extreme impact on my mood. On sunny days, I feel more awake and productive, while on rainy days, I feel lazy and sleepy. It wouldn't be that bad to have a rainy, lazy day every once in a while, but Sparta has experienced countless gloomy days in April. On these days schoolwork seems to take forever for me because I have no motivation to get it done. When I do finally finish work, the day seems to be over and I feel very unproductive. 

I wanted to make sure it wasn't just me that was getting affected by the weather outside my window, so I looked it up - and what I found was super interesting. Scientists have found that more serotonin -  a hormone in the brain that lightens mood - is released in the brain when there is more exposure to light and less serotonin is released when there is less sun exposure. In extreme cases, someone could be diagnoses with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), that it is basically a depression that starts at the beginning of Fall and disappears when Spring arrives. 

I have also noticed that because we have had so many rainy days - and I've had so many unproductive ones - April flew by. March seemed to feel like forever for me because I was productive with my days  and got a lot of things done to save me from being bored. My goal for May is to get things done even if the weather does not want to cooperate.

However, the good thing about the gloomy days is that they have really made me appreciate the nice days. Every day there is at least a bit of sunshine, I make sure to get time outside. I am very excited for this weekend because it is supposed to be sunny.