Have you ever felt like sleeping on a rainy day? Then you should know it is normal to have that feeling. Numerous people have been in this situation where they find themselves taking a nap on a rainy day. One may just need to lay down in a comfortable and warm place while maybe drinking a warm coffee, then finding yourself slowly dozing off. You may be asking yourself why. Luckily, there are various theories from scientific research discussing the reason why people feel sleepy on a rainy day, which is scientifically natural.
Reasons why people feel sleepy on a rainy day
The soothing sound pattern of the rain
When rain hits the roof or the ground, it produces a soothing sound that makes you feel sleepy. The sound of the rain, which is in a rhythmic pattern, is classified as pink noise. The pink noise produced by the rain is comforting, calming, soothing, and enhances the relaxation of the body. Different from white noise, pink noise has an equal amount of frequency at every point, pink noise has an uneven distribution of the amount of the frequency at each point, in which it has volumes that are low at high frequencies, reducing our brain activity, causing an increase in the need to sleep.
The presence of low sunlight intensity
The body is triggered by sunlight to seize the production of a hormone known as melatonin, which is the cause of making us sleep at night. Cloudy and rainy day results in our body not following its internal clock. Your body may fail to transfer into the day mode when you do not see the sunlight early in the morning. According to the director of behavioral sleep medicine, Michelle Drerup, the key cause of feeling sleepy on a rainy day is the lack of sunshine. The body produces a low amount of serotonin while Melatonin is increased in the presence of less sunshine, causing us to feel sleepy.
The earthy smell
The earthy smell produced in a rainy condition can also be soothing. Also, you can smell it when turning over soil in your garden. The earthy smell is known as Petrichor. According to scientific research, lightning, plants as well as bacteria contribute to the production of the soothing smell, after the occurrence of a thunderstorm in the wet earth and the clean air. The petrichor is chased for a long time by scientists as well as perfumers due to its pleasing scent.
Increase in humidity
The body might use energy that is higher than the normal level since the body has a tough time keeping you cool when the humidity is high on a rainy day. Also, high humidity in the air on a rainy day leads to reduced air pressure, accompanied by a relative reduction in the amounts of oxygen in the air. Since oxygen is responsible for stimulating the brain and enabling us to be active, its reduction causes the brain to be less stimulated and therefore people may feel like sleeping.
In conclusion, the soothing and relaxing sound pattern of the rain, the pleasing earthy scents, and the low amount of sunshine is already enough to make one decide to take a nap on a rainy day. Though sadly, the evidence is not enough to prove why people feel sleepy on a rainy day.
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