Rainy Reactions

The weather lately hates me, or at the very least, I hate the weather lately. Recently, as I walk to my morning classes the weather outside is drastically different to the weather that appears when I reemerge from class. If it’s raining, I’m unprepared. If it’s sunny, I’m overly dressed. If it’s snowing, I’m not wearing enough layers. Essentially, I can never win.

This sentiment followed me into the HUB one particularly rainy day – and I say “rainy” lightly as it was more of a “snowy-rainy-wishing-it-were-summer-tomorrow” kind of day. It was one of those days that was gloomy and the moods of the masses equated to that. The cluster of students sitting next to me were discussing their hate for the weather. Well, all of them except one boy who firmly stated that he loved this kind of messy precipitation. There’s always one.

As the conversation progressed, one girl made the blanket statement that when the weather is like this, she is always sadder. This idea, I’ve heard and agreed with before. I have since discovered there is a psychological reason for the depression one feels in the messy weather days.

Scientifically speaking, the pineal gland lies behind your eye and releases serotonin when stimulated by sunlight. Thus when there is less sunlight, there is less serotonin released.

Psychologically speaking, humans are innately sympathetic to the environment. Our depressed emotions are due to association with the weather and allowing it to cause sadness. Gloomy weather by no means can cause true depression.

Yet, the weather outside plays a crucial role in how one feels. The outlook we have is directly proportional to one’s view of the world. A sunny day attributes to happiness and a rainy day acts as a focal point for sadness.