Khaberni -Scientists have identified the amount of sunlight required to improve mood. The study on this matter revealed that cloudy days reduce life satisfaction.
Sunlight has long been associated with good mood, and science confirms this, but how exactly does the sun affect our mental state?
Scientists from the United States and China studied data from about 30,000 people from a survey conducted in the United States, and compared it with records from 824 weather stations across the country. They also compared people's feelings with the amount of sunlight on the day of the survey and the week prior.
The following were analyzed:
Life satisfaction on a scale from 1 ("not satisfied at all") to 5 ("very satisfied"),
Symptoms of depression (on a scale from 0 to 24, where the higher value indicates a more severe condition, including sadness, feeling lonely, sleep problems, and more.
Additional factors: age, income, education, health, weather, air quality, and the season of the survey
The scientists reached the following main conclusions:
On sunny days (more than 11 hours of light) people felt slightly happier compared to cloudy days.
With less than three hours of sun, life satisfaction decreased slightly.
The more sunlight there was, the higher the level of life satisfaction, but the effect was moderate.
Sunlight on the day of the survey had almost no effect on symptoms of depression, but clear weather during the previous week significantly reduced their severity.
