What Affect Can The Amount Of Light In The Morning Have On My Mood For The Day?

By Rosana Horowitz

People often wonder if there is any correlation between their exposure to the light in the morning and their mood for the whole day. The answer to this question is undoubtedly "yes, it does have a lot of affect on your mood for the whole day". You all must have heard of the term "winter blues", it implies to the condition when you feel low and gloomy all day long. It is very common for all of us in winters to get out of the bed in the morning, and there is a general feeling of depression for the whole day.

Seasonal Affective Disorder, better known as the SAD syndrome, is exacerbated due to the lack of light. When you wake up in the morning while it is dark and dreary outside, it can damper the optimistic, naturally cheerful, disposition of an individual, especially if such conditions prevail for a certain period. In winters, people suffer more, because the days are so much shorter, and the continuous darkness can really take its toll.

Why do we feel happy when the day is sunny? It is the noise of the birds in the morning, and the sound of the daily hustle and bustle of everyone, rushing to their destinations, that make the day a whole lot cheerful. Complains of having trouble in getting out of the bed in the morning is comparatively less in summers.

Medical research has shown that, irrespective of the SAD syndrome, the mood of the people is affected by the amount of exposure to light. Studies show that the more exposure you have to light, the more you feel gay, and less exposure to light makes your mood gloomier.

During winters, you wake up in the dark, usually in a cold rather damp environment, get ready for the day and then drive or walk to your office/college/school. By the time the lunch break arrives, you weigh the option of getting out of the office to get a bite to eat outside, against the shortage of time (lunch break is usually just one hour), and more often, you will probably decide to stay put. By the time it is time to go home, it is dark again. One feels as missing out a whole day and experiencing no or less daylight.

There is always a remedy for every problem. There are a few suggestions for it in order to deal with these winter blues. Take a light therapy to lift up your mood and put the gloom away. Use a full spectrum light therapy at the start of the day, as a substitute to the natural sunlight. This light therapy has been widely used for treating the SAD syndrome.

Another thing that can be very helpful is the use of light boxes, and visors with the body clocks; they help in synchronising your sleep, and wake time in accordance to your natural reaction to the sunrise and sunset. Just like the natural sunlight, the light of these light boxes come up gradually and your body responds to it in the same way as it does to the sunlight.

If the above-mentioned tools are too expensive, you can just better light up your surrounding with more lamps, and tube lights turned on. Do not turn off every light in the house before going off to bed; keep your room semi lit. The idea is to subject yourself to more light for a sunnier day. - 30415

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here