Your Birth Month Affects More Than You Think

Last week, you may recall a little study about how your birth month affects your health that basically broke the Internet, or at least our Facebook newsfeeds. The vast majority of people don't actually believe in astrology (I hope), but for whatever reason, we just love to read about how our fates are predetermined in the stars... which is why even an outspoken cynic like myself was stoked to hear that research from last year showed that your birth month could affect your mood. Well, technically it's your birth season, but astrology has never been a very precise subject so I doubt anyone cares too much about the specifics.

According to The Atlantic, researchers at Semmelweis University in Budapest asked 366 students to fill out a survey categorizing them into four temperaments. These classifications were then correlated with each students' birthday, and surprisingly, researchers actually found a link between birth month and mood as an adult. Babies who were born in the summer were much more likely to be "cyclothymic," a temperament characterized by swift mood swings. Summer and spring babies were more likely to be "hyperthymic," a.k.a. that one person who is cheerful all the time. You know who I'm talking about.

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Winter and fall babies weren't left out either — the results showed that those born in winter were less likely to be irritable, and fall babies were less likely to be depressed than ones born in winter. It makes sense if you think about it. Who wouldn't be depressed if their birthday was constantly competing with Christmas?

As the Atlantic points out, there is plenty of research on birth months out there. Unfortunately, however, the studies tend to contradict each other. For instance, a British study from 2012 found that infants born in May were more likely to be depressed than others, which is basically the opposite of this Semmelweis' study, and another showed that winter-borns tend to be novelty seekers. Despite the contradictions, however, there seems to be a link of some sort between birth months and a variety of factors, and researchers have a few ideas about why that might be the cause. Theories range from health of the mother (winter is the season of colds, after all), vitamin D deficiencies, and bullying if they're younger or older than their peers thanks to the month they were born. That being said, your birth month only has a small influence on your temperament. Being born in winter doesn't mean you're doomed to be cranky any more than being born in June means you'll have uncontrollable mood swings....Or does it? You never know with this kind of thing, so here are a few other things that could also be affecting your mood, as curated by yours truly. Hey, I may not have any credentials, but neither does any other astrologist out there.

1. Mercury in retrograde

Your hippie friend has been warning you about Mercury's place in the heavens for months now, and who knows? Maybe that's why you're so out of whack lately. It certainly has nothing to do with that breakup last month. Yep, definitely Mercury.

2. That tuna salad you had for lunch

I mean, last Wednesday's lunch is more recent than your birth month, so I'd say it has a more immediate affect. Especially since you kinda still smell like tuna and your barista crush is starting to give you weird looks because you're still obsessively checking your breath.

3. How recently you've looked at a picture of Tom Hiddleston

<img width="805" alt="tom hiddleston animated GIF " src="http://media.giphy.com/media/VHB1zqcymuwGA/giphy.gif" height="386" class="article-body-image"/>I don't know about you, but I get massively depressed unless I stare at a picture of our favorite real-life Disney prince/actor at least once every fifteen minutes.

4. Hanger

<img width="794" alt="hungry animated GIF " src="http://media.giphy.com/media/1IBuyjtVuV6G4/giphy.gif" height="450" class="article-body-image"/>Even winter and fall babies come across as moody when they're hangry.

5. Wedding season

<img width="805" alt="wedding animated GIF " src="http://media.giphy.com/media/10woeMxIYJyp7G/giphy.gif" height="305" class="article-body-image"/>Wedding season is upon us, and it's either super fun or getting more depressing every year., depending on your relationship status. Ugh.

6. The Game of Thrones finale

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I don't want to talk about it. (But I think we can all agree we're pretty emotional over that one.)

7. The amount of wine in your pantry

<img width="805" alt="wine animated GIF " src="http://media.giphy.com/media/9ol3tiM00PGwM/giphy.gif" height="343" class="article-body-image" title="Image: http://media.giphy.com/media/9ol3tiM00PGwM/giphy.gif"/>Let me tell you something: the amount of wine bottles I own is directly correlated with my mood. More wine = happy Claire. No wine = Claire turns into the Hulk. Good thing I'm one of those hyperthymic babies to balance out the anger, because otherwise I'd probably be insufferable.

Images: Giphy (7)