Gloomy
Feeling gloomy means being in a low, grey mood, where things look darker and less hopeful than usual. The word is used for weather too, and the two often get linked. Weather's average effect on mood turned out to be small in a study of 1,233 people, though people differed a lot in how sensitive they were.1
- On the wheel: Sad, then melancholy, then gloomy
- Next to it: Wistful
- Nearby: Melancholy, sad
- Often points to: A low patch where the future looks greyer than it is
An overcast week
Gloom tints things. The same week looks heavier, you expect plans to fall through and the news to be bad, and a parking ticket starts to look like a sign that everything is going wrong.
It's quieter than despair and vaguer than sadness. There may be no single cause at all.
"It's been raining for nine days. I look at my calendar and every plan feels like a chore. Nothing's wrong, exactly. Everything just feels grey."
How much the sky is to blame
Less than people assume, on average. More for some people than others.
Jaap Denissen and colleagues had 1,233 people report their mood online and matched each report to the local weather.1 Temperature, wind and sunlight did affect negative mood, and days with less sunlight went with more tiredness.1 The average effect, though, was small, and people differed widely in how much the weather moved them.1
Season changes the picture. Pleasant weather went with higher mood in spring in a separate set of studies by Matthew Keller and colleagues, especially for people who spent more time outdoors, and the researchers suggest that winter leaves people starved of good weather.2 In summer the pattern flipped, and hotter weather went with lower mood.2
If grey days flatten you every time, you may be one of the weather-sensitive ones, and that's something you can plan around.
Gloomy, melancholy or seasonal depression?
A gloomy mood comes and goes. Winter-pattern seasonal affective disorder comes back. The National Institute of Mental Health describes it as a type of depression that returns with the seasons, starting in late fall or early winter and lifting in spring and summer, for at least two years in a row.3
| Gloomy | Melancholy | Winter-pattern seasonal depression | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How long | Hours or days | Comes and goes | Most of a season, year after year |
| What it's like | Grey, pessimistic | Quiet, thoughtful sadness | Depression signs, often with oversleeping, craving carbohydrates, withdrawing |
| What to do | Light, movement, people | Give it a little room | See a doctor |
- Gloomy:
- Hours or days
- Melancholy:
- Comes and goes
- Winter-pattern seasonal depression:
- Most of a season, year after year
- Gloomy:
- Grey, pessimistic
- Melancholy:
- Quiet, thoughtful sadness
- Winter-pattern seasonal depression:
- Depression signs, often with oversleeping, craving carbohydrates, withdrawing
- Gloomy:
- Light, movement, people
- Melancholy:
- Give it a little room
- Winter-pattern seasonal depression:
- See a doctor
Oversleeping, overeating with carbohydrate cravings and pulling away from people are the signs the NIMH lists as specific to the winter pattern.3 If that's your January every year, take it to a doctor.
A plan for the grey days
- Get out at midday. Time outside mattered in the spring studies.2 Twenty minutes around the block at lunch counts.
- Check gloom's forecast. Gloom predicts. Write the prediction down on Monday ("this week will be awful") and check it on Friday.
- Keep a rainy-afternoon plan. A café with a book, a standing call with a friend, a film you've saved. Decide it on a sunny day, when it's easy.
- Mark it on a calendar for a year. Low patches that line up with the same months are a pattern worth showing a doctor. Light therapy with a bright light box is one treatment the NIMH describes for seasonal depression.3
What feels darkest right now, and what is one thing that doesn't? Write both, then write one small thing that would add some light to tomorrow.
Answer this with JoyQuestions people ask about feeling gloomy
What is the meaning of gloomy?
Dark or dim, as in a gloomy sky, or low and pessimistic, as in a gloomy mood. The feeling is the second one: grey and heavy, with things looking worse than usual.
Why do I feel gloomy when it rains?
You may be one of the people the weather moves more. Less sunlight also went with more tiredness in the diary study,1 and tired and gloomy can be hard to tell apart from the inside.
Is feeling gloomy in winter normal?
Some people do feel lower in winter. When it comes every year with depression signs, oversleeping or pulling away from people, it may be seasonal affective disorder, and a doctor can help.3
Related
- Melancholy: a quiet, lingering sadness.
- Sad: the core feeling gloomy belongs to.
- Wistful: gently sad and longing.