![]() ![]() When curtains are drawn or blinds are closed, you don’t benefit from any natural light that's out there. It’s easy to choose to stay cocooned when it’s dreary, but try to flood your home or office with as much light as possible. Even taking the long way from your car to your workplace could make a difference. The morning sunlight exposure keeps that body clock on track. The exercise releases endorphins, chemicals that spark a positive or euphoric feeling in the body.įor a better start to the day, get outside within a couple hours of waking up. So bundle up or pull on some rain boots and get out there. Yeager has some simple antidotes:Ī daily walk does wonders for boosting your mood. If a lack of sunshine leaves you feeling lethargic and down, don't worry. Gray days also can wreak havoc on the body's melatonin levels, making it harder for some people to get started on dark mornings. Low amounts of sunlight may trigger a reduction in serotonin, which can affect your mood, Yeager says. Your body makes the hormone melatonin in part to help you feel the urge to sleep and to wake. "People have a circadian rhythm, or biological clock, that is driven by serotonin and melatonin levels and can be thrown off course by prolonged dreary weather,” Yeager says.Ī quick lesson on serotonin and melatonin: Levels of serotonin, a chemical messenger that your body produces for your nervous system, are thought to affect mood and appetite. Note for women: Seasonal affective disorder is more common for you than for men, and young people have a higher risk, with the condition starting most often in their 20s. We get our fair share of back-to-back-to-back gloomy days in the Midwest, huh?įor some people, that can lead to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that affects people at the same time each year, typically over the winter, says Ken Yeager, PhD, clinical director of the Stress, Trauma And Resilience (STAR) Program at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. You can make some easy changes to counteract feeling depressed during long stretches of gray days. ![]()
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