KAIT-Jonesboro, AR-News, weather, sports, classifieds-Does weather affect your mood?
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By Justin Logan - bio | email feedback
Jonesboro, AR (KAIT) - Dr. Phil Hestand, Director of the Arkansas State University Counseling Center said that weather and its effects on your mood is a complicated question. But when it boils down to the research, the results are likely not what you are thinking.
He said, “Basically most of the research would indicate that our mood is not as dependant on the weather as kind of common sense sort of tells us it is.”
On beautiful sunny days, most people are in a pretty good mood. But when the sky begins to turn grey, mentally things begin to change.
Dr. Hestand said, “If a person is already in a depressed mood, already in a state where they're sad and may be lonely and isolated, then bad weather days may affect them more than the general person.”
What about someone who suffers from the winter blues?
“Sometimes in the winter as the season does change and the days do get shorter and there's less sunlight some people are really susceptible to what we call Seasonal Affective Disorder.”
According to Dr. Hestand this can lead to you losing sleep. “There sleep cycles get off kilter and they may experience depression or sadness.”
What about the rest of us, is it just in our heads?
“It's what we think about it, is really the culprit. If you see a gloomy day and you think oh man bad day, this is horrible, or this is going to be a bad mood day. Then you're going to have one.”
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