Monsoon blues remedies: Here's how to beat rainy day depression

Reduced sunlight in the monsoon can lower serotonin activity, which may affect your mood, concentration, and motivation, especially if you're already prone to anxiety or low mood

While rains can be comforting to some, it may wear down others. During the monsoon, many people report feeling unusually sluggish, low, or disconnected. It might actually be the brain reacting to the lack of sunlight, shifts in humidity, and atmospheric pressure.

Monsoon gloom, suggest studies, is a physiological thing.

Sunlight plays a huge role in regulating serotonin, a neurotransmitter that supports mood, memory, and energy. Multiple studies indicate that when the sunlight is low, as it often is during the monsoon, serotonin production can dip, making you feel foggy or flat. At the same time, melatonin, the hormone that helps you sleep, can surge, leaving you feeling groggy even during the day. Moreover, with humidity and low air pressure, your brain’s internal rhythm gets even more confused.

Also read | Is monsoon messing with your skin and mood? here’s how to stay balanced 

According to a study in the PubMed, serotonin levels in the brain are directly linked to the amount of sunlight a person is exposed to. The researchers discovered that the rate of serotonin production was higher on sunny days compared to cloudy ones. This means reduced sunlight in the monsoon can lower serotonin activity, which may affect your mood, concentration, and motivation, especially if you're already prone to anxiety or low mood.

Here’s what could be happening inside your monsoon brain:

• Less light, lower serotonin: Cloudy skies reduce the natural light your body uses to stimulate serotonin production. You feel dull, down, or less motivated for no clear reason.

• More  melatonin makes you feel sleepy: With dim lighting during the day, your body might produce excess melatonin. This can leave you drowsy or restless, even if you're getting enough sleep.

• Air pressure drops your energy too: Low barometric pressure (common during storms) can lead to headaches, fatigue, and moodiness. It also affects oxygen levels in the blood, which impacts your alertness.

• In tropical climates, it's more subtle, but longer: Unlike snowy winters, tropical monsoons bring long periods of grey. This constant dullness isn’t dramatic, but it can slowly chip away at your mental clarity and emotional stability.

• Indoor  life adds to the effect: Less time outdoors means less physical movement, less socialising, and more screen time, all of which are proven to reduce mood-boosting brain activity.

• Open your curtains first thing in the morning. Natural light, even soft, is better than none.
• Go for short walks during daylight hours. Movement and light exposure together are a mood-boosting combo.
• Eat serotonin-supportive foods. Bananas, oats, almonds, seeds, and eggs all help.
• Consider vitamin D supplements. Get tested first, especially if you avoid the sun.
• Limit late-night scrolling. Blue light disturbs  melatonin and your sleep quality.