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Medicine Science

Scientists Find That Things Really Do Seem Better In the Morning (theguardian.com) 31

Posted by BeauHD from the would-you-look-at-that dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: In the most comprehensive study of its kind, scientists have found that generally, the world feels brighter when you wake up. People start the day in the best frame of mind in the morning, but end in the worst, at about midnight, the findings suggest, with the day of the week and the season also playing a part. Mental health also tends to be more varied at weekends but steadier during the week, according to the study led by University College London. "Generally, things do seem better in the morning," the researchers concluded. Their findings were published in the journal BMJ Mental Health. [...]

The results showed that happiness, life satisfaction, and worthwhile ratings were all higher on Mondays and Fridays than on Sundays, while happiness was also higher on Tuesdays. There was no evidence that loneliness differed across days of the week. There was clear evidence of a seasonal influence on mood. Compared with winter, people tended to have lower levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms and loneliness, and higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction and feeling that life was worthwhile in the three other seasons. Mental health was best in the summer across all outcomes. But the season didn't affect the associations observed across the day, however. Scientists suggest that the findings may be due to physiological changes linked to the body's circadian rhythm. Cortisol, a hormone that influences mood and motivation, peaks after waking and declines by bedtime, which may contribute to better mental health earlier in the day.

Factors like sleep cycles, weather, and when participants chose to respond to the survey could have influenced the findings. There's also the differences between weekdays and weekends, which have their own variations in daily routines.

Scientists Find That Things Really Do Seem Better In the Morning More | Reply

Scientists Find That Things Really Do Seem Better In the Morning

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  • Reality (Score:5, Funny)

    by Retired Chemist ( 5039029 ) on Friday February 07, 2025 @08:32AM (#65149207)
    You get up in the morning refreshed and then reality starts to set in. You read the news and go to work and pretty soon you realize how shitty things are.
  • Defund these mofos.
  • Morning doesn't necessarily equal when you wake up :-) As a night owl, I *hate* mornings. I feel my best 9 p.m. - midnight. In an ideal world, I would wake up around noon, but work means I need to be up by 7 a.m.
    • Yeah, were I a test subject I suspect the number of broken noses and black eyes the researchers would have experienced might have led them to different conclusions.
    • Annoying morning people always want to push the same narrative. You'll be more productive, happier, and more creative if you get up and bounce around bright eyed and bushy tailed. BULLSHIT. These are the same people who told me when I was a kid that "you cannot catch up on sleep" and other ridiculous and insulting ideas about sleep. I still work out, eat right, and sleep plenty, but fuck waking up at 4AM to go jogging, man.

      Fuck these "scientists". My goal anytime I'm able is to wake up after the morning i

  • Research funded by (Score:4, Funny)

    by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Friday February 07, 2025 @08:42AM (#65149223)
    Research funded by the council of people who run leaf blowers at 6:45 in the morning.
  • Nothing good happens before noon.
    • Totally. I'm calling BS on the basic premise. Nobody said that.... welllll, maybe some chirpy annoying morning person. Ugh.
      I mean I've been walking around and awake-ish for hours but if you want to get serious don't talk to me before...yeah, about noon.

  • morning wood is good!

  • We all know monsters have more health and attack power at night.

  • Cortisol is called the "stress hormone," because your body produces it when under stress. High cortisol levels cause numerous health problems in the long term.

    In the first place, it serves as the fight-or-flight hormone - it prepares the body for immediate action - which suppresses concentration, short term memory, long-term memory formation, and higher order cognitive skills.

    It is also the fat-storing hormone - if you exercise when cortisol levels are high, you'll have a harder time losing weight. Y

    • The treatment for high cortisol levels? Reduce stress. THANKS science!
      Be careful with being obsessed with any particular hormone level, be it cortisol, serotonin, etc etc. None of the "literature" for end-users is any good. Let your doctor worry about cortisol, adrenal and pituitary function, HPA axis, etc.
      You can have any sort of disorder that could be attributed to anything. Attempting to regulate your own hormones without a doctor performing lots of lab tests is a recipe for disaster. Or it may just work

  • Half-asleep, ill-tempered, and barely able to speak. That's my morning. Hell, I think in every instance my experience is the opposite of what they claim. Sunday is my best day!

    • Same here, I knew I've always been the opposite of the average human being.

      I have always hated sundays though because nothing was open and it was a reminder of monday coming soon, but forced retirement and seeing more stores are open on a sunday nowadays has tempered the hate to mostly ignorance.

    • "Half-asleep, ill-tempered, and barely able to speak. That's my morning. Hell, I think in every instance my experience is the opposite of what they claim."

      Yes!

      "People start the day in the best frame of mind in the morning, but end in the worst, at about midnight"

      Today I have discovered that I am not a people. i guess i should no longer capitalize.

  • Court rulings have been found to become more lenient after noon. "Justice is what the judge ate for lunch."

    Which seems like a more basic satiety and contentment reflection than TFS, I suppose, which sounds oriented around winter blues and circadian light and whatnot.

  • It's mentioned in the BMJ article, but not the Guardian article that this is "a large panel study of over 73,000 adults (aged 18+ years) in the UK" and "This analysis focused on participants living in England". This could very well be a cultural phenomenon and/or have significant geographical factors rather than being something universal to humans.

  • It sucks in the morning until that first joint. Then the day gets bright. Thanks, Lord!!

  • Go to Bed Angry (Score:3)

    by Thelasko ( 1196535 ) on Friday February 07, 2025 @11:03AM (#65149677) Journal
    There is an old saying, "Don't go to bed angry." In my personal experience, it's total BS. 80% of the time you are just too tired to think straight. Go to bed angry. When you wake up you will think clearer and may even forget why you were angry in the first place.

  • Not traffic. (Our org could telework, but management is stodgy.)

  • "There's also the differences between weekdays and weekends..."

    You say that as if weekends are inherently different than other solar days, and not a cultural imposition.

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