The influence of weather on well-being has been studied many times. The sun seems to have the power to make people happy and make them more prone to altruism. For example, on sunny days, waiters get higher tips, and passersby are more likely to answer interviewers' questions. On the other hand, in Estonia or Iceland, depression is called a national disease because of the long winter and short days.

We feel stronglyweather changes . In Poland, at least half of the people (some studies show that even 70%) are sensitive to weather changes. Today we know relatively well what makes them feel worse. However, when it comes to improving the mood, the matter is more complex, and the findings are not clear-cut.

Do we feel worse in winter or summer?

The effect of temperature on aggression is best documented. It appears much more often on hot days than on cool ones and in overheated rooms than in underheated rooms, although in both we feel uncomfortable.

This is shown not only by laboratory experiments, but also by systematic observations in natural conditions: drivers standing in a traffic jam more often honk in summer than in winter (especially those who do not have air conditioning in the car).

Street riots appear much more often in the summer, etc. We are dealing here with an interesting asymmetry - after all, more people say that they do not like winter than summer.

Nevertheless, experiments show that strong sun tires us more than severe frost. This is because the body has less ability to cool itself than to heat. When it is cold, we can do a lot to keep ourselves warm: increase muscle activity (e.g. exercise, chills), the body can withdraw blood from the body's circuits and force it deeper (goosebumps), we can cuddle with other people or warmer dress. It's harder to cool down the body.

Once all clothes are taken off, the only thing left is sweating and panting. However, if there is no wind, it is muggy and humid, the body cannot cool any further. Everyone who went to Turkey, Egypt or Morocco in the middle of summer knows how much we get tired then.

Influence of pressure on well-being

The influence of atmospheric pressure on our well-being is also well confirmed and thoroughly explained.Rapid changes in atmospheric pressure (over 8 hPa per day) are unfavorable and even dangerous to he alth, especially when the pressure drops.

Research shows that there are more heart attacks and atrial fibrillation on days like this. The pressure drops also go hand in hand with more marital quarrels, disruptive student behavior in school, and suicide.

Why does pressure affect our mood? At low atmospheric pressure, oxygen penetrates with more difficulty through the alveoli into the blood. This makes people breathe more deeply to replenish the oxygen deficit, and the heart has to work more efficiently, so it is more stressful.

Low blood pressure also goes hand in hand with less testosterone in the blood and decreased sperm production. Testosterone deficiency, on the other hand, affects depressive states in men or increased irritation.

The effect of wind on well-being

A light breeze on a hot day can be pleasant, but in general, winds increase stress and cause many other changes in behavior: they increase the frequency of blinking (even by half), reduce the ability to concentrate and reduce the level of mental performance.

Research on well-being also shows that during high winds people score higher on the scales of neuroticism (malaise, nervousness, irritation, explosiveness, experience difficulties in calming down and experiencing positive emotional states).

The negative impact of winds on well-being is so strong that in some countries the courts treat wind as a mitigating circumstance and impose pen alties. This is the case, for example, in Switzerland.

In Argentina, crimes of affect are punished less when the wind blows pomponio. The period of increased sirocco wind also lowers pen alties for minor offenses in some Mediterranean countries.

The wind ionizes the air

Winds make you feel worse not only because of their nuisance, but also because they ionize the air. Winds carrying positive ions have a negative influence in the first place. This is what the sirocco is like on the Apennine Peninsula, the mistral in the south of France, the fen wind (blowing from the mountains into the valleys), which is our mountain wind in the Tatras.

When the air is positively ionized, many disturbing phenomena are noted - the number of people visiting psychiatric hospitals increases, there are more signs of depression, nervousness, headaches, irritation, pessimism and car accidents increase.

Negative ions (they are produced by, for example, conifers) usually have a positive effect on the mood and social interactions. Air ionization in generalis not a very favorable phenomenon - storms, electrical networks, photocopiers have a rather negative effect on the human body.

Apparent impact of the moon phases on he alth

Almost half of people (49 percent) believe in folk medicine that the phases of the moon are of great importance to our functioning. The first research by psychologists showed that during certain full moons the number of murders, burglaries, beatings, robberies and rapes actually increases.

However, as the research methods became more sophisticated, it turned out that this only happens during the weekends of the full moon. In addition, it is known that much more crimes are committed during the weekends than on the other days of the week. Most studies show unequivocally - the influence of the moon phases on the well-being and behavior of people is apparent.

It follows from the so-called self-fulfilling prophecy, which is that if police officers believe that criminals are more active during a full moon, they patrol the streets more often and become more alert, leading to higher crime detection rates.

It turns out that the influence of the weather on well-being is much weaker than we think. Rather, it intensifies emotional states caused by other factors (e.g. social conflict, stress, congestion or disease). Its influence on our well-being is therefore like the influence of "a straw that breaks the back of an overloaded camel".

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  • Moon phases: impact on human he alth
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