"Am I okay or is it just sunny?" This phrase is doing the rounds on TikTok and researchers are determined to show if there really is a link between good sunny weather and our mood. Hippocrates, known as the "father of medicine", believed that the key to a healthy life is the amount of natural light you get, but science does not support this theory.
"It's a very complicated subject and we can't have an exact answer to it," says psychiatrist Paul H. Desan. According to researchers, mood swings are linked to physical changes and causes that go beyond the weather.
But there is a term called "meretopathi", which explains the connection that certain individuals create between humor and the sun. In other words, the connection people make and think they have with good or bad weather and their mood or well-being is summed up by this term.
But this term, which became much more widespread after the pandemic, is dangerous. "Meteropathy" is treated as a physical and mental disorder that can adversely affect individuals who do not treat it and goes beyond the association of emotions with good times. Using this term confuses people and leads to self-diagnosis that has serious consequences for mental and physical health.
The sun has a positive effect as the first source of vitamin D, but beyond that there is no evidence to support the improvement of mental and physical health from it.
