Txik’s Blog

 From The Times Saturday March 28 2009, Fiona MacDonald Smith explains the combination between sunlight and optimism.

She affirms that the extra daylight we all start to enjoy at this time of the year has an extraordinary effect on pour physical and mental health.

Sunshine Vitamin

A deficit in vitamin D can cause poor health or serious diseases.

Lighter and Brighter

Our actions can be also regulated by sunlight, which means, that at this time of the year we can feel livelier and more alert.

Sleep Easy

If having problems into getting sleep at night, an hour of s8unlight between 7am and 9am each morning could be a solution.

Healthier Diet

The increase in body temperature because of the sunlight makes us less likely to reach for the comfort food that helps to stave off the cold winter.

Banish the Blues

Levels of the mood – enhancing hormone serotonin, which fall in winter, rise with exposure to sunlight.

Get Out More

To get these healthy benefits we need to go out and not contemplating the sunlight from the window.

Why heavy weather makes you fat

In a Sociology seminar today, we came across Durkheim’s study of Individual behaviour; I will not tell his arguments.  However, he did not consider the “environment “as a source of performance development and individual differences.

But, the environment has played a significant part in further theories and researches.  It is claim that climate is closely related to learning. It refers to the cumulative effects of the individual’s responses to the environmental stimuli he or she encounters though life ( Anastasi, 1979).

I will like besides, to remark the effects of environmental variables on human behaviour and research on the effects of human behaviour on the environment.

Sustaining that environmental duty is a key mean in our society.  We will also, need to consider the human interaction with specific aspects of the “physical environment”, including the built and natural environment.

 Reflecting the public concern about the deteriorating environment on the planet Earth, environmental studies spans a wide and heterogeneous array of problems. They not only cover the planned effects of human actions but also the unplanned and unanticipated side effects. The problems investigated range from air and water pollution and the depletion of natural resources to the design of offices, playgrounds, universities…

Nowadays we are becoming influenced by health and beauty issues. I would like to point that studied in psychology have emphasized that human performance and well-being characteristics depend in part upon the physical environment. Consider for example, the work of the engineers in the establishment of illumination standards, the maintenance of suitable temperature and other atmospheric conditions, the reduction of noise and similar problems in environments designed for prolonged human use. Social and clinical psychologists have become increasingly concerned about the influence of aspects of the environment or interpersonal behaviour, emotional and cognitive development. The development of the space has stimulated intensive research on the effects of certain environmental conditions on human performance.

A  Russian scientist prepared a study of the history of mass human movement compared to the solar cycle.  

 He divided the solar cycle into four parts:

 1) Minimum sunspot activity

 2) Increasing sunspot activity                                        

 3) Maximum sunspot activity

 4) Decreasing sunspot activity

 He then divided the disorder of mass human movements into five phases:

1) Provoking influence of leaders upon masses

2) The “exciting” effect of emphasized ideas upon the masses

3) The velocity of incapability due to the presence of a single psychic centre

4) The extensive areas covered by mass movements

5) Integration and individualization of the masses

By these comparisons he constructed an “Index of Mass Human Excitability”

He maintained that the “exciting” period may be explained by an acute change in the nervous and psychic character of humanity, which takes place at sunspot maxima.
Tchijevsky discovered that the solar minimum is the lag period when repression is tolerated by the masses, as if they lacked the vital energy to make the needed changes. He found that during the sunspot maximum, the movement of humans is also at its peak. Tchijevsky’s study is the foundation of sunspot theory on human behaviour.

 Some theories about the mechanism behind the stimulation of human behaviour can be read on Georges Lakhovsky in his book, The Secret of Life

From a text in psychology I found out that strong positive feelings are assiociated with being in natural rather than artificial environments.

People report positive feelings in geographical locations where there is vegetation, water and panoramic views.

It is argued that evolutionary factors probably contribute to preferences for these types of geographical location. Such environments are both safe and fertile.

We still with daylight savings but the clock time are ready to change. Our mood is inevitably looking to outdoor spring.

You of course, remember the snowfall we had this winter. Read this news story:

Police in Dorset have caught a suspected burglar after following footsteps in the snow.

Officers visited his home in Lyme Regis after a spate of attempted burglaries in the seaside town overnight.

To their surprise, they spotted a single set of undisturbed footprints in the fresh snow which led straight to the scene of a crime.

They took officers to a house that had been the subject of a break-in at about 4am on Thursday.

The footprints did not stop there. They led officers to a second house where they disturbed the offender and a chase ensued.

Police said a 25-year-old man was arrested shortly afterwards with suspected stolen property from one of the burglaries.

The suspect was already wanted for questioning about other offences and was being interviewed by Weymouth CID.

Inspector Alan Jenkins, Section Commander for Bridport and Lyme Regis, said: “These type of snow-track arrests happen very rarely in an officer’s career.

“We were very fortunate that the snow had, literally, just fallen and this contributed to a successful arrest and some solace for the terrified occupants of the two houses.”

Although I am slightly stressed due to my course work I have to say that It is a lovely day. The sun is shining and there aren’t clouds in the sky.

I want to lastly go back to the BBC commentary on weather and point out that:

It goes without saying that we tend to feel better when the sun is shining. Bright days with full sun are positively stimulating.

I have been searching for more information.  Yesterday, started to rain and to be windy and I couldn’t continue my post  because I wanted to look for a book outside uni.

From the BBC I read an interesting evaluation on human activity vs. climate. Read this:

 Pressure

Atmospheric pressure is continually fluctuating, and researchers in the Ukraine have found that slight low-frequency atmospheric oscillations can influence human mental activity, causing significant changes in attention and short term memory functions . So next time you find it hard to concentrate at work, blame it on the pressure!

Temperature and humidity

The body finds it hard to cope with extremes of temperature, either producing enough heat to keep us warm in very low temperatures or getting rid of our own internally produced heat when temperatures are high.

In heat waves, where the temperature is significantly higher than expected for the time of year, people tend to behave more irrationally. New York City sees regular summer crime waves, which are believed to be as a result of the hot weather.

Hot humid days are the worst possible combination in terms of affecting our behaviour, causing periods of sleeplessness, decreased general activity, poorer vigilance, poorer reaction times and performance, irritability and lethargy.

Cooler days, with lower humidity, tend to increase alertness and general activity, and improve moods.

Sunshine

Lack of sunshine can cause can cause the ‘winter blues’.

The hypothalamus is the part of the brain that rules our body’s main functions (mood, activity, sleep, temperature, appetite and sex drive). It is stimulated by the natural light that passes through the retinas in our eyes, and when less light is available these functions slow down.

In fact the lack of sunshine can cause what is commonly known as the ‘winter blues’ or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

 Up to half a million people in the UK are thought to experience SAD, with a further one in five of the population experiencing a milder form – sub-syndrome SAD. Symptoms vary from tiredness during the day and overeating to loss of libido and aggressive behaviour.

Wind

A persistent or noisy wind can lead to an increase in tiredness and irritability, or even a sudden decrease in mood. Some school teachers have noticed that children tend to be more irritable and that there are more playground ‘upsets’ when it is windy.

Seasonal winds are known as ‘ill winds’ in many cultures and have a variety of names such as the föhn (Alps), Mistral (southern France), Chinooks (western Canada and the USA) and the Sharav (Middle East). They are linked to feelings of anxiety, stress, depression and sleepless nights.

Studies have linked strong winds to an increase in traffic accidents, crime and suicide rates, and they have even been taken into account during legal proceedings!

The exact reason why these winds have such extreme effects is unknown, but it has been suggested that it may be the electrical charge of the air. When people are exposed to negatively charged air they report feeling positive and vice versa. Warm winds, such as those mentioned above are positively charged.

Homes and offices today are built to be airtight. Heating and air-conditioning depletes negative ions, leaving the positive ones to re-circulate and reduce our moods. As we spend less and less time outside due to pressures at work and home our bodies are also going to be less exposed and less adapted to different weather conditions.