Mar 18, 2020 3 min read

Last month, we had a stretch of five 50-plus degree days and three straight days without any precipitation. That may not sound like anything special, but it marked the first time this year we went longer than two days without rain or snow. Two of those three days were sunny with barely a cloud in the sky. That’s even more uncommon in Southwestern Pennsylvania in February. Everyone seemed to be smiling and happier than usual. Was it the sunshine?

I know I always feel happier when it’s sunny outside. It just makes everything seem better and brighter than when we have to turn on the lights inside at high noon because skies are completely grey. Think about all of the songs like “Sunshine On My Shoulders,” or “I’m Walkin’ On Sunshine,” that have been penned about how sunshine makes us feel. But why is that?

Medical research has shown that sunlight and darkness trigger the release of hormones in our brains. Exposure to sunlight is thought to increase our brains’ release of the hormone serotonin, which boosts mood. Apparently serotonin helps us feel calm and focused, and lack of sunshine can cause levels to drop. I wrote a health story last year about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which can be caused by too little exposure to sunlight and causes depression, sluggishness and the blues. I absolutely believe I have suffered from this at least once.

I started thinking back to when I lived in southwest Florida where it was sunny almost every single day and hot as all get-out six months out of the year. I’d love to retire to Florida eventually and plan to not take the sunshine for granted and to go to the beach every day. Then I remember back to days when I lived there and I didn’t go outside in the sweltering summer because it was too hot and humid.

I wonder whether you can get sick of too much sunshine? Well, it turns out that apparently you can – and I’m not just talking about a bad sunburn. A British medical journal cited up to 600,000 Britons suffer from “summer SAD” caused by sensitivity to heat and hormonal imbalances that can lead to lethargy and depression. So too much sun can make you sad as well as happy?

Pittsburgh averages around 160 sunny days per year, which is below the U.S. average of 205 and well behind the 85% of days that are sunny in Phoenix and Las Vegas. But it’s just so, so hot there in the summer. All that sunshine, you know. I guess it really is true that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Sunshine versus clouds, heat versus snow. There’s always so much to appreciate and something to complain about!

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.