A study now reveals that the risk of depression can be reduced if you move your sleep rhythm forward over the long term.
Night owls like to stay in bed as long as possible in the morning and use days off to sleep as long as possible.
The lockdown and home office have also shifted the sleep rhythm of many a little forward.
However, they also seem to have a higher risk of depression than early risers, as a study now shows.
Late risers have a higher risk of depression
Whether someone naturally likes to go out early or is more of a late riser depends on the
genetic chronotype
. We now know more than 340 genetic variants that influence the chronotype of humans. This predisposition determines our internal clock. Researchers at the Broad Institute in Cambridge now wanted to find out whether
this predisposition has an influence on the likelihood of depression
. And the answer is yes.
According to the researchers, those who get up earlier are less likely to suffer from depression. “We found that falling asleep an hour earlier can lower the risk of developing depression,” said co-author Celine Vetter. More precisely, the center of
sleep
- half the time between going to bed and getting up - has to be shifted by an hour. For example, if this is 1 a.m. and night owls instead regularly go to bed at midnight - and get up an hour earlier - they could reduce their risk of severe depression by as much as 23 percent. The average center of sleep is at 3 a.m. That would be a bedtime from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
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For the study, the researchers used data from 840,000 people from the UK Biobank.
So far, it is one of the strongest indications that
a person's daily rhythm
can
influence the risk of depression
.
Earlier observational studies had shown that night owls were twice as likely to suffer from depression as early birds.
The length of bedtime does not matter.
Also interesting
: sleep disorder announces dementia: researchers find surprising connection.
Why does sleep rhythm affect the risk of depression?
It has not yet been fully clarified why early risers have a lower risk of depression.
One theory is that more daylight
affects
the
release of hormones that affect mood
.
On the other hand, late risers in a society that is focused on morning people could be given a negative feeling that depression promotes, according to the thesis.
(fk)
Click here for the study
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