Why ‘feeling under the weather’ is a real thing
The recent rains over the past two weeks have brought on a surge of emotions among many of us—primarily anxiety over rising waters, standstill traffic, and the uncertainty of getting home. Then there’s the anger at the still unchanging systems that continue to allow us to be subjected to these conditions, again and again and again.
And beneath all that, there’s the unnerving feeling of being… just out of it. A murky haze of weariness and lethargy with a sadness of sorts. Perhaps more than a physiological ailment, this is what it really means to “feel under the weather.”
Not enough sun
My hypothesis: It’s because we’ve barely gotten any sunlight.
At least on my side of the metro, rain has been pouring almost 80 percent of the entire past two weeks. Any brief respite, any spot of “brightness” (which, on a normal day, would actually still lean more into the kulimlim side of things), was only temporary. A bright patch lasting maybe a couple hours, before rain would start to pitter-patter overhead again.
I suspected that having barely any decent, prolonged exposure to sunlight for such a long stretch has been causing this feeling. Instead of the day visibly being marked by the sun’s parade through the sky, there have only been two modes: dark and darker.
The result? Our moods are equally hazy, too. And yes, there really is some science behind all this.
Why rainy days make us lethargic
This phenomenon has long been observed and written about—why it’s so hard to get out of bed when it’s raining, and why we feel more inclined to nap on days with cooler weather.
According to The Weather Channel, stormy weather is signified by a drop in barometric pressure (hence why we always hear the term “low-pressure area” in weather reports). This drop reduces the levels of oxygen in the air, which, in turn, affect our energy levels.
The weather—especially when it’s darker out—then also affects our hormone levels, especially melatonin and serotonin.
Rainy weather means it’s darker around us, so less light prompts the production of more melatonin (and less serotonin), and thus, the feeling of being sleepier.
Disrupted circadian rhythms
We already know the circadian rhythm is what’s behind our waking and sleeping patterns. A regulated system means a well-working body clock: allowing us to naturally wake up and fall asleep on a consistent schedule. But with less light—aka at night—the body is signaled to rest.
So in prolonged periods of dark and overcast weather, the circadian rhythm gets disrupted by signals to rest even when it actually isn’t supposed to yet.
Meanwhile, sunlight is what signals the release of serotonin, the hormone that helps regulate and balance our moods. These long, rainy days mean we get less sun exposure—which also means less serotonin in our system.
With less of that in action, it’s unsurprising we’re feeling a little off.
We can’t exactly will the weather to change, so what can we do?
While artificial light has been used for therapy for seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of seasonal depression that often manifests during winter or spring/summer in temperate climates, the fact is that you’ll be needing an intense amount of light—or levels of lux—to even reach the level of what natural sunlight can do for serotonin production.
And while serotonin is also produced and used in the gut (around 90 percent), the portion of serotonin responsible for managing our sleep cycles and emotions comes from the brain—transmitted by sunlight through the eyes. Unfortunately, no food hack can actually make that jump.
While more studies are being done on the subject, the correlations are undeniable. So for all its worth, what we can probably do is just not beat ourselves up over feeling out of sorts and lethargic.
But if there’s anything “SAD”-der about not getting any sun, it’s that at the end of the day, even amid disasters like this (human-caused as they are), we’re still expected to show up—at school, work, and our day-to-day grind. Except, I guess, for the privileged few who can opt to take a week-long sabbatical.
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