Sunlight has a profound impact on your mental health — more so than any other weather phenomenon. That’s the conclusion of a recent study looking at links between weather and depression.1
Mental health data from more than 16,000 Brigham Young University students was used. Assessments had been filled out several times by each person over the course of six years. Each assessment was then matched to local weather data.
Nineteen different environmental factors, including solar irradiance (the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth), cloud cover, rain, wind chill, barometric pressure and smog levels were accounted for.