00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World, my name's Theo Kuusenbeek and today I'm out on the streets of Manchester for a very particular reason.
00:06Basically, as you may have noticed over the last week or so, the background to my shots has become increasingly nicer.
00:12And the reason for that is simply the sun is starting to come out.
00:15Here in the UK we're more affected than most countries across Europe and the world by something called Seasonal Affective Disorder.
00:22Which basically means that the season heavily impacts your mood.
00:25And coming out of a long, cold and pretty boring winter, the amount of people who will have been suffering with it in the UK is pretty high.
00:32So today we're out in Manchester asking people how their mood is changing as spring begins.
00:36It's apps that we're here in Stephenson Square which sort of the social hub for the beers outside after work sort of scene.
00:43So we're going to ask a couple of people how they're feeling, whether spring has changed their mood and whether it's given them a spring in their step.
00:49100%. We've come out today, haven't we? And all we've talked about is how nice the weather is and how much difference it makes.
00:54And again, part of the work that we do is outside.
00:58So when it's summer, it's so much nicer. It makes everyone's lives easier.
01:02I think the weather makes people more social as well.
01:06You want to go out, you want to spend time together, you want to go and have a drink in summer because it's nice.
01:11It's nice to be able to do that. And in winter you can't really go out. It's freezing.
01:14You want to go inside because you want a jacket and it's not nice.
01:18I mean, to be honest, it impacts my mood a lot because when you look out your window and it's nice and sunny, you just feel more happy.
01:25I don't know. It's like you said, people have that disorder.
01:28It's just a nice feeling to just go outside and not have to be in cold weather.
01:33It brings you down a lot, I feel like.
01:35The flat's colder. You've got to pay more for that. You've got to worry about heating.
01:39When it's the summer, it's nice. You don't have to pay for heating.
01:42And it's just like so many different factors.
01:45Yeah, I think because of our flat, I think it matters a lot because it's quite an expensive flat to run.
01:53And when it's cold outside, it's so expensive.
01:59On our days off, we'd only have a heater inside our room.
02:03We wouldn't leave the room because it was that cold.
02:07Yeah, so that does make you a little bit sad when you can't afford to be warm.
02:11So there we are. As I say, a lot of people across the UK are really affected by this seasonal affective disorder, aptly nicknamed SAD.
02:19It can be something that's really, really hard to get through and also really hard to understand where it comes from.
02:24But that thing of waking up in the morning and it being dark, and then when you leave the office as well, it remains dark.
02:30You never really get to see the light.
02:32Hopefully now, with the sun coming out, beaming down on Manchester, the opportunities for, as I say, post-work pints and going out with friends
02:39and even just waking up in the morning and seeing the sun outside your window.
02:42Although, you know, we'll get our fair share of rain as well, I'm sure.
02:46It can make a massive difference to people's mental health.
02:48If it's something that you struggle with, please reach out to friends, family, talk to someone about how you're feeling.
02:53But hopefully spring has, as I quipped earlier, given you a spring in your step.
02:58And now we can all look forward to summer together.
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