Hamlet gets very dejected around the middle of Act III. "I have of late," he says, "but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth, and foregone all custom of exercises". His depression, of course, may well have been a reaction to his own procrastination, or simply a mediaeval dose of yuppie `flu, but it may also have been triggered by the weather. The elements, it seems, have a significant effect on our ability to cope, as we shuffle through the various stages of this mortal coil.
First let us set the relevant parameters. For the purposes of studies on the psychological or physiological effects of the weather, the common weather patterns have been classified in to five typical "phases", each associated with a particular stage in the approach and aftermath of a frontal trough.
Fine anti-cyclonic weather with plenty of sunshine, few clouds and light winds is designated Phase 1; Phase 2 describes the approach of a warm front - high cloud invading from the west, falling barometric pressure, freshening wind, and increasing relative humidity; mild moist air with rain or drizzle and strongish winds are characteristic of Phase 3; Phase 4 brings an abrupt change to brighter conditions with heavy showers, rising pressure and cold gusty winds; and finally, as the pressure rises further, humidity drops and the showers and wind become less noticeable, Phase 5 is ushered in.
By comparing hospital records to the weather patterns experienced over an extended period, it has been possible to relate these phases to the tragedies and joys of human life. Not surprisingly, the fine settled weather of Phase 1 appears to have little physiological effect. By comparison, however, Phases 2 and 3 are volatile and turbulent, and the findings that emerge are interesting. If, for example, we assign a large number of births to their appropriate phases, it appears surprisingly frequent, and much more often than statistical accident would allow, that labour starts in Phase 2 to be followed by birth in Phase 3.
Moreover, these same phases seem to follow us right through our lives. Ulcers and migraine are allegedly most troublesome in the weather of Phase 3; and coronaries, like births, also show a peak in Phases 2 and 3, as do behavioural problems among schoolchildren, with a marked minimum in Phases 1 and 5. And when it comes to making one's quietus with a bare bodkin, or any other form of suicide, it appears that this also is statistically much more likely to happen in Phase 3 than in any other kind of weather.