Morning brings the brightest moods, while midnight is when people feel their worst, according to a large study.
Mental health also varies by season and day of the week, with winter and midweek seeing lower well-being. Researchers suggest that biological rhythms and daily routines play a role, offering insights that could improve mental health services.
Mental Health Peaks in the Morning
People tend to feel better in the morning, with noticeable differences in self-reported mental health and well-being throughout the day, according to a large study published today (February 5) in BMJ Mental Health.
The study suggests that people generally wake up in their best mental state, while mood declines toward its lowest point around midnight. Factors such as the day of the week and the season also influence these patterns.
Mental health and well-being fluctuate over both short and long periods, but few studies have examined how they shift within a single day. Those that have were often limited to small or specific groups, the researchers note.
Investigating the Impact of Time
To fill this gap, the researchers investigated whether time of day affects mental health, including depressive and anxiety symptoms, happiness, life satisfaction, sense of purpose, and loneliness. They also explored whether these patterns varied by day, season, or year.
They analyzed data from the University College London COVID-19 Social Study, which began in March 2020, and involved regular monitoring until November 2021, and then additional monitoring up to March 2022.
All studied aspects were measured via questionnaires using validated assessment tools or through single direct questions: “In the past week, how happy did you feel; how satisfied have you been with your life; to what extent have you felt the things you are doing in your life are worthwhile?”
Time stamps on completion of each survey provided information on time of day (continuous from 6 am to midnight); day of the week; season; and year (2020, 2021, 2022).
Information on other potentially influential factors included age groups (18–29, 30–45, 46–59, 60+), gender, ethnicity, educational attainment, employment status, residential area (rural, urban) and diagnosed physical and mental health conditions (yes, no).
Complete information was available for 49, 218 people, three-quarters of whom (76.5%) were women. People educated to degree level or above were overrepresented (68%) while those from ethnic minority backgrounds were underrepresented (6%). The sample was therefore weighted to reflect population proportions.
Clear Patterns in Mood Throughout the Day
Analysis of the data revealed a clear pattern in self-reported mental health and well-being across the day, with people generally waking up in the morning feeling best—lowest depressive/anxiety symptoms and loneliness and highest happiness, life satisfaction, and worthwhile ratings—and feeling worst around midnight.
The influence of the day of the week was less clear-cut, with more variation in mental health and well-being during weekends than on weekdays.
Happiness, life satisfaction, and worthwhile ratings were all higher on Mondays and Fridays than on Sundays, and happiness was also higher on Tuesdays. However, there was no evidence that loneliness differed across days of the week.
The Role of Seasonal Changes
There was clear evidence of a seasonal influence on mood, however. Compared with winter, people tended to have lower levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms and loneliness, and higher levels of happiness, life satisfaction, and feeling that life was worthwhile in other seasons.
And mental health was best in the summer across all outcomes. However, the season didn’t affect the associations observed across the day, however.
The Lingering Effects of the Pandemic
Mental health and well-being also steadily improved from 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is an observational study, and as such, can’t establish cause. And when people chose to fill in their questionnaires might have influenced the findings, say the researchers. No information was available for sleep cycles, latitude, or weather, all of which may also have been influential, they add.
But the changes in mental health and well-being across the day might be explained by the physiological changes associated with the body clock, they suggest.
“For example, cortisol peaks shortly after waking and reaches its lowest levels around bedtime. However, it is important to acknowledge the differences between weekends and weekdays,” they write.
“Given there is little evidence that physiological processes differ across different days of the week, differences might be related to other factors that drive [mental health and well-being] changes over the course of the day. This could include contextual factors and sequence of daily activities, which are likely to be different between weekends and weekdays.”
Surprising Findings About Seasonal Influence
The similar time of day patterns in mental health and well-being, irrespective of the seasons, is surprising, as one of the main reasons for seasonal changes in frame of mind is the number of daylight hours, say the researchers.
“Other drivers of the seasonal variation in [mental health and well-being] could include weather (temperature, precipitation, humidity) as well as various sociocultural cycles, including cultural holidays, norms, and employment patterns,” they suggest.
Implications for Public Health and Services
The findings have implications for service delivery and clinical assessments, say the researchers. “Finally, in relation to public health, our findings indicate that people’s [mental health and well-being] tends to be lowest around midnight, mid-week, and in winter. This should be considered when planning service and resource provision.”
Reference: “Will things feel better in the morning? A time-of-day analysis of mental health and wellbeing from nearly 1 million observations” by Feifei Bu, Jessica K Bone and Daisy Fancourt, 1 January 2025, BMJ Ment Health.
DOI: 10.1136/bmjment-2024-301418
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