Expect joy: a psychologist explained the effect of snow on people’s well-being

According to climate standards, winter was supposed to come to Moscow today, November 13, but this year it was delayed. Different weather forecasters promise snow on different dates – some already at the end of this week, some later. Still, we are unlikely to see stable snow cover before the end of November. Muscovites, with the exception of utility workers and, perhaps, couriers, will only be happy to see white snow! MK spoke with psychologist Sergei Lang about the effect of snow on the human psyche and well-being.

– According to the old norms, climate winter came to Moscow on November 10, but according to the new ones, it was supposed to come today, November 13. We should expect meteorological winter after November 17-18, and everyone will enjoy snow no earlier than the last five days of November,” weather forecaster and leading employee of the Phobos weather center Mikhail Leus told MK.

According to his forecast, tomorrow, November 14, there will be rain and sleet in places in the capital at a temperature of +2, +4. In St. Petersburg, whose weather is often copied by Moscow a couple of days late, today, November 13, it was already snowy, cold and slippery. Winter seems to have already reached St. Petersburg…

You don’t have to be a psychologist to understand: snow can lift people’s spirits after gray rains! However, experts can explain this phenomenon from a scientific and psychological point of view.

“It just so happens that in the minds of all people snow is associated with magic, with a fairy tale, with some kind of purity,” psychologist Sergei Lang told MK. – There is a good expression that is quite suitable here – “light at the end of the tunnel.” It is this snow that we perceive as light at the end of gray, cold, gloomy, rainy days.

What we see directly affects our psyche. When a person, leaving the house, is faced with cold drops of rain that fall from the sky, with the wind, and sees puddles, slush, and dirt around – in any case, even people who are not weather-dependent are in a decadent mood. Naturally, when the ground is covered with snow, firstly, it makes the streets much lighter – even at night, when the streetlights come on and the snow reflects the light. Secondly, the winter picture in the evening under the light of lanterns becomes like a fairy tale – all this affects our psycho-emotional state.

There is also an expression “white, black stripe”, and people perceive snow as a white stripe; when something has changed in their lives, psychologically it becomes easier for all of us. We look at problems and life differently. Of course, this does not solve global, root problems, but it works purely from a psychosomatic point of view.

Snow falls, and a smile involuntarily appears on our face, this smile is passed on to other passers-by; we rejoice in it, we like to walk on the crunchy snow, catch snowflakes on ourselves… This is such a childish joy, and our inner child, which is in every person, perceives it as something bright and good.

– We also know that when frost and snow come, the sun appears, but in recent weeks we have not seen it at all…

– Sun deficiency is, first of all, as doctors will tell you, a deficiency of vitamin D, which is produced under the influence of sunlight, so all this affects a person’s physical and mental activity. Yes, when a person doesn’t get enough sun, fatigue sets in faster, even irritability appears, a feeling of apathy arises, you don’t want to do anything… Problems seem overwhelming. And needless to say, the sun, of course, lifts the mood and can even help someone cope with melancholy and despondency. For some, life in sunlight will immediately become better and more fun.