The weather is rotten and in our heads, it’s all gray too

How far away “the weather is good, the sky is blue, I have two friends who are also my lovers”. It’s 2021, the weather is rotten, the skies are gray, and your friends (if you can still remember what they look like), like you, are bored. ”
The bamboche, it’s over ”and to complete the sad picture come the cold, the gray, the rain, the wind and the press briefings of Jean Castex.

With their heads already on the scaffold, each awaits the sentence. A re-confinement or a curfew lowered to 6 p.m. throughout the country? No matter the extra bad news, Monday is Blue Monday. And this year, that most depressing day of the year could well last more than 24 hours. Especially for Parisians who combine health crisis and lack of light.

January 1 to 12, 11:21 p.m. sunshine hours only

According to the 2021 ranking “Of the healthiest cities in the world”, sent this Wednesday to the editorial staff of 20 Minutes, Paris ranks tenth among the least healthy cities with a “high” pollution index (65.10), a “high” cost of living (a bottle of water costs on average 2.15 euros) and. .. with a “low” rate of sunshine (1,662 hours per year). Currently, winter requires, the latter is low. Very low. From January 1 to 12, 11:21 p.m. hours of sunshine were recorded at the Paris-Montsouris station. Wednesday, the counter even showed 0. A zero to have morale in the socks.

“During this winter period, many of us suffer from a drop in energy and motivation. This phenomenon is known as winter blues or seasonal affective disorder (SAD) which affects one in five people. Scientific studies show that the lack of luminosity is the main cause ”, according to the company Espaciel“ a world pioneer in natural lighting reflectors ”. And to clarify: “The luminosity of the sky goes from 6,000 lux in summer to 1,000 lux in winter. This decrease in exterior light intensity creates a lack of natural light. It influences our mood and morale. This explains the symptoms of seasonal depression: irritability, lack of motivation and depression ”. But the current economic and health crisis is especially for a lot.

“The situation is extremely difficult for most people to manage”

“The weather is a factor that can affect morale. But this is not the only one, the factors are cumulative. In reality, it is above all the very heavy current context that is predominant. The situation is extremely difficult to manage for most people and we add to that, like every year, this winter period which is often difficult to pass because of the temperatures and the reduced length of days. All of this together gives a leaden atmosphere ”, reacts to 20 Minutes, between two consultations, Dr Sylvie Royant-Parola, psychiatrist and president of the Morphée network, devoted to the management of chronic sleep disorders.

But after a year 2020 which has broke sunshine records in Paris (1,444 hours recorded between the months of March and August and sunshine close to the record with 85:32 in January 2020), a heat wave in September and a mild and sunny autumn, the temperatures appear really harsh. “In reality, there is nothing abnormal”, we assure 20 Minutes at Météo France. The famous “seasonal averages” are good and we could even experience a “winter” that could not be more “classic”.

Météo France analyzes: after a mild year on the weather side, Parisians “suddenly realize that it is winter” and realize that the “beautiful days when we will have the joy of meeting to dance, to sing, to enjoy new from Paris, together ”promised by Anne Hidalgo this Wednesday when his wishes are still far away. In short: Parisians (like all French people, ultimately) are bored, are in wait or in anguish and pray to Jean Castex, freezing them in the dark.