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Can The Weather Predict Your Moods?

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Do you feel:

  • That your joints are aching for no reason?
  • Depression/lack of motivation?
  • Inflammation in your joints?
  • Feel cold?
  • Edema?

If you are experiencing any of these situations, then it might be the weather that is affecting your mood and your body.

The Weather

Does the weather forecast make anyone smile? Whether it is nothing but bright, sunny skies and warm temperatures or gray, overcast skies with threats of rain and thunderstorms, the weather can affect a person’s joints and cause them pain. The old saying “Feel it in my bones” comes to play when environmental conditions can affect the physical body. Research has indicated that these effects are not just skin deep, but the weather can affect a person’s mood and emotional health. They found that patients experience increased joint pain in response to a decrease in pressure and indicating that low atmospheric pressure conditions exacerbate joint pain.

weather-shutterstock_103277342

Lots of people are affected differently by different weather patterns. There are no hard-fast rules regarding the influence of how the weather affects people’s moods. The research suggested that high humidity may increase sleepiness and can negatively affect concentration and focus on a person. While rising temperatures can help lower anxiety and skepticism mood scores in a person. Since humidity is the most significant predictor since it implicates for school and office performances are being discussed and highlights the importance of humidity as a weather variable.

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Some individuals love to sit out in the sun and soak up every ray while basking in the heat. Others instead prefer to let themselves stay indoors surrounded by air conditioning and feeling so much better in the colder weather with less sunshine.

Types of People Affected By The Weather

Studies have researched that there were four distinct types of people, especially in children and their mothers that were identified when it comes to the weather and their moods. They are:

  • Summer Lover
  • Unaffected
  • Summer Haters
  • Rain Haters

Summer Lovers have better moods in warm, sunny weather while the Summer Hater has the worse moods under the warmer conditions. People in the Unaffected category has shown only the weak association between the weather and their moods. When it comes to rainy days, Rain Haters experiences particularly bad moods during those types of days. The correlation between the children and their mothers was founded for two of the types. It stated that there might be some intergenerational influences, and the finding from the study and many others show that there is a massive individual difference in how the weather affects people’s moods. Some people love rainy or sunny days, while others loathe them.

Cooling off after a run

A 2013 paper found that rising temperatures and increased precipitation can have a significant impact on human conflict and interpersonal violence. The correlation between the higher temperatures like more extreme rainfall and increased violence was seen on both scales, large and small. Other researchers have suggested that the psychological effects of the weather are influenced by seasons and the time a person is outside. What they found was that higher temperatures or the barometric pressure were related to better moods, memory, and “broadened” cognitive style in the springtime as an individual spends more time outside has increased.

Weather Can Affect People’s Mood

While this relationship is perfect for some people, others see this relationship as an inverse during the other seasons. Some people found out that during the warmer seasons, lowers their mood. It is correlated strongly with individuals who live in the south. The hotter weather can cause them to have poorer moods when the summer has higher temperatures, and it can become downright debilitating.

weather-netherlands

Researchers speculated that the discrepancy between spring and summer moods might be related to seasonal affective disorder. With seasonal affective disorder, the results were consistent with their findings. They suggested that pleasant weather improves moods and broaden cognition in the spring because people have been deprived of such weather during the winter.

The founder and editor-in-chief of Psych Central, John M, Grohol, Psy.D., noted that the weather could affect people’s moods and emotions. He also mentions that the strength of that relationship varies from person to person, and the effects are noticeable, whether it be small in some people or more pronounced in others.

Winter

Another study found that many people intuit that the bad weather makes them sad and pleasant weather makes them happy. Scientific investigations have largely failed to support such associations, however, with variations in meteorological variables either showing no or weak relationships with variations in normal moods. It means that a person’s definition of  “good” or “bad” weather is their own opinion. If someone likes the rain, then gray, rainy days are “good” in their view while others view rainy days are “bad” and prefer sunshine, blue skies, and warmer weather.

Conclusion

The weather can affect anyone’s mood. Whether people enjoy the colder seasons or the warmer seasons, their moods can change due to the type of weather. If they are aware of their mood patterns, taking supplements can ease the transition of the change of seasons and be a beneficial impact on their moods. Some products can help support the body and making sure that the entire system is functioning correctly by targeting amino acids and sugar metabolism.

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, and nervous health issues or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health protocols to treat injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. To further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.


References:

Bullock, Ben, et al. “Highs and Lows, Ups and Downs: Meteorology and Mood in Bipolar Disorder.” PloS One, Public Library of Science, 9 Mar. 2017, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5344507/.

Grohol, John M. “Weather Can Change Your Mood.” World of Psychology, 28 Mar. 2019, psychcentral.com/blog/weather-can-change-your-mood/.

Howarth, E, and M S Hoffman. “A Multidimensional Approach to the Relationship between Mood and Weather.” British Journal of Psychology (London, England: 1953), U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 1984, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6704634.

Hsiang, Solomon M., et al. “Quantifying the Influence of Climate on Human Conflict.” Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 13 Sept. 2013, science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6151/1235367.

Keller, Matthew C, et al. “A Warm Heart and a Clear Head. The Contingent Effects of Weather on Mood and Cognition.” Psychological Science, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16137259.

Keller, Matthew C, et al. “A Warm Heart and a Clear Head. The Contingent Effects of Weather on Mood and Cognition.” Psychological Science, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2005, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16137259.

Klimstra, Theo A, et al. “Come Rain or Come Shine: Individual Differences in How Weather Affects Mood.” Emotion (Washington, D.C.), U.S. National Library of Medicine, Dec. 2011, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21842988.

Team, DFH. “Weather Forecast – Can It Predict Your Mood, Too?” Designs for Health, 15 Aug. 2019, blog.designsforhealth.com/node/1085.

Vergés, Josep, et al. “Weather Conditions Can Influence Rheumatic Diseases.” Proceedings of the Western Pharmacology Society, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2004, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15633634.

 

Post Disclaimer

Professional Scope of Practice *

The information herein on "Can The Weather Predict Your Moods?" is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional.

Blog Information & Scope Discussions

Our information scope is limited to Chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, contributing etiological viscerosomatic disturbances within clinical presentations, associated somatovisceral reflex clinical dynamics, subluxation complexes, sensitive health issues, and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions.

We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from various disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.*

Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request.

We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez, DC, or contact us at 915-850-0900.

We are here to help you and your family.

Blessings

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN*, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN*

email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com

Licensed as a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) in Texas & New Mexico*
Texas DC License # TX5807, New Mexico DC License # NM-DC2182

Licensed as a Registered Nurse (RN*) in Florida
Florida License RN License # RN9617241 (Control No. 3558029)
License Compact Status: Multi-State License: Authorized to Practice in 40 States*
Presently Matriculated: ICHS: MSN* FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner Program)

Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, RN* CIFM*, IFMCP*, ATN*, CCST
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