Thrive
How to boost your mood on gloomy days
Most of us expect the darker nights and colder days to affect us in the winter. But this summer, we’ve seen more rain and low temperatures than we’d probably expected. If you find this impacts your mood, there are several things that can help.
What affects your moods?
There are many factors that can affect your mood. From your work to your self-esteem. Your life circumstances to your health. Your relationships to your lifestyle.
On gloomy days, your environment can also affect your mental health. This can be due to the following.
Lack of sunlight
Your body clock and sleep/wake cycles are set by daylight. If you’re spending less time outdoors because of rainy weather you’re probably getting less daylight. This can impact your sleep patterns and lead to low mood the next day.
Natural daylight controls hormones in your body that govern your sleep. The main one is melatonin. This makes you sleepy and is usually made at night.
Exposure to light slows its production and release. That’s also why using light-emitting screens before bed can lead to disturbed sleep.
Weather
A 2021 study found that the more time spent outdoors, the greater the levels of happiness and mental health among study participants. Of course, it’s not that simple, but when it’s rainy, you’re less prone to want to go outside. This can have an impact on how you feel.
Easy ways to improve your mood
Here are some simple things you can do to boost your mood.
Spend 20 minutes in nature
Time in nature can have a positive effect on your mental health. Exposure to natural daylight also helps to set your sleep/wake cycle and regulate your mood.
It’s not always possible to spend hours outside, especially if you work indoors at a desk. But you don’t need hours.
Just 10 to 20 minutes spent sitting or walking in a natural environment is shown to help relieve stress and low mood. That could be the countryside. But it could also be your local park.
Get your activity in
Regular exercise is key to a healthy mood. It can help balance hormones in your body like cortisol, that help regulate energy and your response to stress. Regular physical activity can also help maintain healthy sleep, which is essential for your mood.
But rainy weather can make you less likely to want to engage in walks, team sports and other outdoor activities that contribute to mental wellbeing.
Other factors like where you live or financial circumstance, may also limit you.
So, what can you do instead? First, find an activity you like. If you don’t like the gym or team sports, the following are some suggestions.
- Move as part of your routine. That could be getting more active around the house or walking to the station or bus stop instead of driving.
- Join a group. Gardening is a great way to be active and connect with nature (and it doesn’t have to be sunny). The Social Farms and Gardens website has more details. It lists community gardens and farms around the UK. You could also join a local walking, Ramblers (hiking) or swimming club.
- Try a physical activity programme. The Bupa Touch app has plenty of online fitness classes. You can also try Couch to 5K to get you running or try other activity apps.
Work with your mood and energy levels to find the best time of day to exercise. Try scheduling it as your active time. Remember to take rest when you feel you need it.
Eat more home-cooked meals
Research has found a link between eating a lot of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and mental health symptoms. These include depression, anxiety and low mood.
Identifying UPFs is not always simple though. Lots of healthy food is processed for example, like rice or rolled oats. So, look on the label. If you see long lists of unfamiliar additives, preservatives, and artificial ingredients, which you wouldn’t find in a typical kitchen cupboard, it’s probably a UPF.
Examples of UPFs include:
- crisps
- processed meats
- ready meals
- sweetened yoghurts
- energy and soft drinks
- sweets, chocolate, and biscuits
This can be easier said than done, but try and opt for more simple meals, eaten at home to reduce your UPF intake.
Snack on whole foods
People tend to snack more on UPFs, especially in the afternoon and at night. But ultra-processed, sugary snacks can spike your blood sugar. That can cause a ‘crash’ where your mood and energy slump after the sugar high. If that happens during the night, it could disturb your sleep and affect your mood the next day.
Having a healthy snack between meals can also keep your blood sugar stable and contribute to a more balanced mood.
If you feel like comfort eating on gloomy days, try and replace UPFs with healthier snacks like:
- hummus with crackers or raw vegetables
- a handful of edamame beans
- a tablespoon of nut butter with chopped apple or pear
- a small handful of mixed nuts
- Greek yoghurt with some fruit
Go to sleep and wake up at the same time most days
You probably know that good quality sleep is essential for your mental health. But, a regular sleep routine can also contribute to better mental health. That means sleeping and waking at the same times each day, even at the weekends. Known as ‘sleep consistency’, it’s been shown to help lead to better mood the next day.
Try short mindfulness meditation
Many of us think, ‘I can’t meditate’ because thinking of ‘nothing’ can feel impossible. But mindfulness meditation doesn’t expect that from you. It teaches you to simply observe your thoughts and feelings. There’s no need to fight or reject them.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown to help reduce stress, anxiety, depression and even perceptions of pain in some people.
And, there’s no need to do it for hours. A 2019 study found that just 13 minutes of guided mindfulness meditation, done daily for eight weeks, improved mood, memory and concentration and reduced anxiety.
It’s not necessary to be an experienced meditator either. Those effects were found in people who hadn’t meditated before.
So on the days when weather is not on your side, there are small things you can work into your routine to make sure your mood isn’t impacted.
If your symptoms of low mood persist, make sure you see a healthcare provider.
Our health insurance allows you to skip a GP referral in some cases, and speak to a mental health practitioner. Learn more today.
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Sources Sources
- Shawa N, Rae DE, Roden LC. Impact of seasons on an individual's chronotype: current perspectives. Nat Sci Sleep. 2018;10:345-354. Published 2018 Oct 31. doi:10.2147/NSS.S158596
- Melatonin. You and your hormones. Society of Endocrinology. Last reviewed, November 2021. Yourhormones.info
- Brazienė A, Venclovienė J, Vaičiulis V, et al. Relationship between Depressive Symptoms and Weather Conditions. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(9):5069. Published 2022 Apr 21. doi:10.3390/ijerph19095069
- Burns, A. C., Saxena, R., Vetter, C., Phillips, A. J. K., Lane, J. M., & Cain, S. W. (2021). Time spent in outdoor light is associated with mood, sleep, and circadian rhythm-related outcomes: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study in over 400,000 UK Biobank participants. Journal of affective disorders, 295, 347–352
- Meredith GR, Rakow DA, Eldermire ERB, Madsen CG, Shelley SP, Sachs NA. Minimum Time Dose in Nature to Positively Impact the Mental Health of College-Aged Students, and How to Measure It: A Scoping Review. Front Psychol. 2020;10:2942. Published 2020 Jan 14. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02942
- Lane MM, Gamage E, Travica N, et al. Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Nutrients. 2022;14(13):2568. Published 2022 Jun 21. doi:10.3390/nu14132568
- Monteiro CA, Cannon G, Moubarac JC, Levy RB, Louzada MLC, Jaime PC. The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing. Public Health Nutr. 2018;21(1):5-17. doi:10.1017/S1368980017000234
- Healthy snacks. British Dietetic Association Fact Sheets. Bda.uk.com accessed 10 July, 2024
- Fang Y, Forger DB, Frank E, Sen S, Goldstein C. Day-to-day variability in sleep parameters and depression risk: a prospective cohort study of training physicians. NPJ Digit Med. 2021;4(1):28. Published 2021 Feb 18. doi:10.1038/s41746-021-00400-z
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