The sung response to the Psalm 30 read on Sunday was, “though tears flow for a night, the morning brings new joy.” The ancient scripture struck a chord with my personal observation that “things always look better in the morning.” As I often do, I used Google to confirm my assumptions!
A study recently published in England confirmed that the world feels better when you wake up.
People start their day in the best frame of mind and feel their worst at midnight. The study also suggests that the day of the week and the season also affect how we feel.
The results of a study by University College London was published in the journal BMJ Mental-Health published quarterrly in London. Englamd.
Scientists wanted to explore whether time of day was associated with variations in mental health, happiness, life satisfaction, sense of life being worthwhile and loneliness. They also wanted to find out if these associations vary by the season of the year. They analyzed almost a million survey results from nearly 50,000 adults over two years. People in the study answered questions such as, “In the past week how happy did you feel, how satisfied have you been with your life and to what extent have you felt the things you are doing in your life are worthwhile?”
The results show that happiness, life satisfaction, and worthwhile ratings were all higher on Monday and Friday than on Sundays, while happiness was also higher on Tuesdays. There was no evidence that loneliness differed across days of the week.
Researchers discovered clear evidence of a seasonal influence on mood. Compared with winter, people tended to have lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms and loneliness, and higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction and feelings that life was worthwhile in the other three seasons. Mental health was best in the summer but the season didn’t affect the associations observed arcross the day.
The report suggested the change in mental health and well-being across the day might be explained by changes in the body clock.
“For example, cortisol, (a hormone that regulates mood, motivation and fear) peaks shortly after waking and reaches its lowest level around bedtime.”
The report acknowledges that the study has not been replicated and does not show cause and effect. However, for me, it backs up the centuries old song “…the morning brings new joy.”
