How can you affect your mood and behavior?

While I thrived in the glorious climate, his temperament took a dive.

"It never changes," he moaned.

"It's boring."

My mood, on the other hand, was as sunny as the skies. If the theory is that sunshine increases feelings of happiness, I wondered why we had such opposing reactions to the exact same conditions.

How do you feel about your weather? How do you do it? How do you do it? The park on a clear day or hanging out on the couch on a rainy one.

But what about your mood and overall emotional wellbeing?

Some scientists believe that weather has a huge influence on our mood and behavior.

"It's changing the world's global warming, which is leading to increased mental-health problems," says Dr. Helen Berry, professor of climate change and mental health at The University of Sydney.

Others think the effect is more subtle. Nick Haslam, a professor of psychology at the University of Melbourne, has a much-talked-about seasonal affective disorder, a much-talked-about seasonal affliction .

"If you live in a place where gloomy weather is common, for example, it's less likely to affect you than it's atypical," Haslam says.

"If you're used to lower temperatures, a heatwave will have more negative effects on your mood and bodily comfort than if you're used to living in a hot environment."

You can affect your mental state.

CLOUDY AND DULL SKIES

Feeling happy makes you think clearly, right? Wrong.

Research conducted by psychologists at the University of New South Wales has shown that people perform better on memory tasks when your mood is likely to be lower, than when you are sunny, when your mood is likely to be brighter.

Quizzed on 10 uncommon objects they had just seen in a shop.

Study lead Joseph Forgas explains that in a negative mood, people think things through more and pay more attention to detail as people tend to be more confident and less focused on their surroundings when in a good mood.

"People do better at tasks involving attention to detail in the world when they are in negative-mood states," says Haslam.

LONG, SUNNY DAYS

You produce vitamin D when your skin gets sunlight, which promotes your brain's production of serotonin, the 'feel-good' hormone. Less sunlight means more melatonin – the hormone that signals that it's time for bed.

So sunlight means more energy, says Haslam.

This 'happy' feeling can affect other areas of your life – one of the most popular ones in the world.

Again, Haslam guarantees these are not simple cause-effect scenarios: "The sunny season is often the time people take vacations, so it could be a reason they're more relaxed."

EXTREME HEAT OR RAINFALL

While sunny days seem to improve your mood, the opposite can happen when warmth becomes extreme heat.

In fact, heatwaves have been linked to increased incidences of violence and aggressive behavior.

"Extreme heat leads to increased aggression, instances of rape, domestic violence, riots and irritation," according to Dr. Susie Burke, a senior psychologist at the Australian Psychological Society.

This is a revelation about the world is expected to get even hotter in the coming decades due to global warming.

A significant analysis carried out at the University of California, Berkeley found that the extremes of the conflict and the effects of conflict – both interpersonal, as in person-on-person violence, and intergroup conflict, as in riots and wars.

Again, the experts have put forward different explanations for why this could be.

One theory suggests that aggression is brought on by the physical stress on the body and discomfort. There are more people there and there are more opportunities for crimes to occur.

Burke adds people with mental-health issues are particularly at risk in the heat:

"People with mental-health problems can be vulnerable to some psychiatric medications are less effective in the heat and some of the body's ability to sweat and the person can not cool down."

If the rain is too heavy, Burke adds.

"Extreme rainfall can also lead to increased aggression because people can feel their sense of wellbeing is missing."

FLOODS AND DROUGHTS

"Droughts and Floods – both caused by extreme weather conditions. This is due to loss of income and breakdown of social structures, "says Berry.

Burke adds that while such events can result in mental strain, such events can also strengthen social bonds.

"Extreme weather disasters are often chaotic and focused on survival at impact, but there are a few, disaster experts note it's a rebound or honeymoon phase, which is characterized by great solidarity, co-operation, goodwill and help," Burke says.

"There is a great sense of 'we're all in this together'. Strangers come together to help each other and community spirit strengthens. "

So if the sun is shining bright or clouds are blocking its rays, your mood will be affected – for better or worse.