Depression linked to internal jet lag study finds
Circadian rhythms controlling sleep were out of sync in a quarter of young people with depression in this Sydney-based study. Read more
sydney.edu.au
A Sydney study of 69 young people seeking mental health care found that nearly a quarter were suffering from a kind of “internal jet lag,” with their melatonin, cortisol and core body-temperature cycles out of sync—even though they hadn’t hopped across time zones. The mismatch was linked to more severe depressive symptoms, suggesting that our internal clock’s alignment plays a bigger role in mood disorders than we’d realised.
Researchers from the University of Sydney ran participants through an overnight chronobiology lab—swallowing temperature sensors and collecting saliva for hormone checks—to map out their 24-hour rhythms. This is the first study to combine all three markers in young people with emerging mood disorders, and it opens the door to new treatments that target circadian misalignment. While the work doesn’t prove cause and effect (it’s based on a single sleep cycle), future longitudinal research could show whether fixing your body clock helps fix your mood.
Top comments (0)