Does sunshine make us happier and healthier? | BBC Science Focus Magazine

In many parts of the world, there’s a deeply ingrained belief that sunny days make us feel more cheerful. It seems like common sense, but the scientific evidence is surprisingly equivocal.

Yes, there are individual studies supporting the link – for instance, in 2013, researchers at the Freie Universität Berlin reported that people surveyed on exceptionally sunny days felt more satisfied with life than people surveyed on cloudier days.

Flipping things around, even the idea that many of us are more prone to depression in the gloomier the winter months (known as ‘seasonal affective disorder’) is controversial. 

While too much sunshine is undoubtedly bad for your unprotected skin, sunlight exposure is also beneficial in many ways because it allows the body to create more vitamin D, which can reduce the risk of cancer and lower blood pressure among other health benefits.