Effects of Weather on Mood
Enhanced College Writing
Cause and Effect Essay
September 27, 2012
Effects of Weather on your Mood Many of us have moods that are changeable like the tides, and like the tides, for many of us those moods are dictated by many things including the weather. While you might think that you 'just woke up on the wrong side of bed' it may in fact be that there are other things at play here – diet, tiredness, weather and more. In fact you could probably go as far as to say that the side of bed that you got out of is unlikely to really have had much to do with your mood at all. Weather is one particularly large indicator of how your mood is going to turn out for the day. The first and most well-known way in which weather affects mood is in what is known as seasonal affective disorder or SAD. This condition can also be known as winter depression, winter blues or seasonal depression and basically it describes a condition in which the individual finds their mood so tied to the changing of the seasons that they in fact exhibit symptoms close to depression every winter. There are various explanations as to why someone might experience SAD, but generally it is believed to relate to the amount of light. This then means that it is not in fact the cold of winter that causes the depression, but rather the lack of light getting into your brain. At the same time temperature can also affect mood and this is as a result of energy usage. In the winter our immune systems are going to try harder in order to keep our bodies warm and our heart rate will speed up. All this means that energy is directed toward those tasks and so is not available in as large quantities for other activities. At the same time this is also why you are more likely to become ill your immune system is already under pressure from the cold and thus it becomes less able to stave off the attacks from bacteria and viruses. In order to avoid getting ill then and to avoid the depression that can come from it, make
Cause and Effect Essay
September 27, 2012
Effects of Weather on your Mood Many of us have moods that are changeable like the tides, and like the tides, for many of us those moods are dictated by many things including the weather. While you might think that you 'just woke up on the wrong side of bed' it may in fact be that there are other things at play here – diet, tiredness, weather and more. In fact you could probably go as far as to say that the side of bed that you got out of is unlikely to really have had much to do with your mood at all. Weather is one particularly large indicator of how your mood is going to turn out for the day. The first and most well-known way in which weather affects mood is in what is known as seasonal affective disorder or SAD. This condition can also be known as winter depression, winter blues or seasonal depression and basically it describes a condition in which the individual finds their mood so tied to the changing of the seasons that they in fact exhibit symptoms close to depression every winter. There are various explanations as to why someone might experience SAD, but generally it is believed to relate to the amount of light. This then means that it is not in fact the cold of winter that causes the depression, but rather the lack of light getting into your brain. At the same time temperature can also affect mood and this is as a result of energy usage. In the winter our immune systems are going to try harder in order to keep our bodies warm and our heart rate will speed up. All this means that energy is directed toward those tasks and so is not available in as large quantities for other activities. At the same time this is also why you are more likely to become ill your immune system is already under pressure from the cold and thus it becomes less able to stave off the attacks from bacteria and viruses. In order to avoid getting ill then and to avoid the depression that can come from it, make