08:00 pm
Monday 26 September 2022
If you’re a morning person, your circadian rhythm aligns with traditional work schedules between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and school drop-out times.
According to CNN, if you are a nocturnal creature, waking up in the morning will be annoying for you, according to a new study published in the journal “Molecular Psychiatry”, on Monday, according to which your best performance appears during the afternoon and evening, until late at night. .
The study used sleep data collected from wrist activity monitors worn by more than 85,000 participants in the UK Biobank Study, which includes in-depth genetic and health information on more than half a million Britons.
The researchers compared this sleep information to self-reports of mood, and found that people with an inconsistent sleep cycle were more likely to report depression and anxiety, and to have a lower sense of well-being.
“It’s possible that the health problems associated with being nocturnal are because you live in the robes of morning creatures, which disrupts the body’s rhythms,” said sleep specialist Kristen Knutson, associate professor of neurology and preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. daily”.
Challenging our internal clock appears to be closely associated with levels of depression, and “more sleep disturbance was associated with higher odds of depression,” said study author Dr Jessica Terrell and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK.
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Previous studies, including a study conducted by Knutson, revealed a relationship between depression and sleep cycles, and “the strongest evidence for this is shift workers,” Terrell said, noting that “some studies have shown that these individuals have a higher rate of depression and a lower sense of well-being.”
On the flip side, Knutson said the “important new finding” of the study is that people who like to get up in the morning are less likely to sleep irregularly than nocturnal creatures.
“If you’re a morning person, you’re less likely to be depressed, and you’re more likely to report better well-being,” Terrell explained. “This may be, in part, because morning people are less likely to have a ‘social circadian disruption’.”
“Social circadian disruption” occurs when you go to bed later and wake up later on weekends than on weekdays when you have to get up to go to work. Borrowed from the jet lag we experience when we travel between time zones, Terrell explained, the disruption of the social circadian clock is “the result of the discrepancy between an individual’s biological rhythm and the circadian timing determined by social constraints.”
Knutson said other possible causes include more sun exposure in early risers.
She pointed out that “exposure to light is greater in morning organisms, and will decrease in those who suffer from greater sleep fluctuations. Of course, bright light is considered a treatment for some forms of depression.”
“Disruption of the circadian rhythm can lead to insufficient sleep and affect sleep quality, which can impair mood and exacerbate mood disorders,” Knutson said.