: How and why does the time of the day affect our emotions?

Question

Like we tend to feel negative emotions strongly at night while during the day we tend to have a more optimistic outlook.

In:

Answer 1

There’s a hormone your body produces called cortisol. This does a LOT of things, but importantly, when there’s plenty of it, it makes you feel like you’re more energetic, which often corresponds with mood. Your cortisol levels change throughout the day, with their highest levels in the late morning & their lowest levels at midnight/in the early hours of the morning. This is also very noticeable in people with depression: they often feel significantly worse in the mornings. This won’t be the only reason that the time of day affects one’s emotions, but it probably is one.