Not everyone is cheered by spring While the arrival of spring heralds a new lease of life and energy for most people, for those suffering from depression the effect can be drastically different.
Harvard psychiatrist John Sharp has done extensive research into the effects that the changing seasons have on our mental health and emotional well-being.
In his book, The Emotional Calendar, Sharp outlines how physical, psychological and socio-cultural factors influence the way we feel.
"Most people do feel an increase in exuberance, energy, optimism, excitement, maybe a restlessness and sleeplessness that can come from what the Americans call spring fever," he told the BBC World Service's Health Check programme.
"We are exquisitely sensitive to the effect of physical influences on our mood and behaviour."
Dr Sharp breaks the effect of seasons into three big "realms".
The first is the physical realm - factors like light and temperature. Extra hours of sunlight and rising temperatures can increase the levels of serotonin and dopamine in the body - the chemicals responsible for feelings of well-being.
The second realm features cultural events, such as festivals and summer holidays, that give people a positive outlook.
The third is event anniversaries. Whether it is something positive, such as a great achievement, or a negative event, like death and loss, seasonal cues trigger our senses and can cause us to relive these moments year after year.
For most people the first two factors conspire to make us feel more positive in springtime. But as Dr Sharp points out, for those who suffer from depression, spring can have the opposite effect.
"At the same time as most of us are rolling up our sleeves and spending more time outdoors, others struggle with trying to get into that kind of mode, and counter-intuitively, they feel worse."
It is not surprising, then, that in the UK suicide rates are at their highest in spring, peaking in April and May.
"If you're not being carried along with the natural energy of the season it can be really hard," says Dr Sharp.
Nicolas Werner, a mental health worker from Hove in East Sussex, agrees.
He was diagnosed with depression in 2001 and subsequently with bipolar disorder towards the end of last year.
Charities say there is a dearth of information on depression "Many people look at spring as new beginnings, something positive. This is a sharp contrast with how people with depressio
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