The Science Behind Circadian Depression: How Your Poor Sleep Schedule Might Lead to Depression

Most of us know that depression can affect your mood, your energy, and your motivation to get things done. What many people don’t realise is that for some, depression doesn’t feel the same all day long. It tends to get worse at certain hours and ease up at others, and this pattern is closely linked to the body’s internal clock. This is known as circadian depression, and once you understand it, it becomes easier to make sense of what you’re feeling and how it can be treated.

In the hustle and bustle, we often ignore the small things needed to maintain our internal system. The body needs rest to function better. Having irregular sleep patterns affects your psychological health, which not only leads to sleep disorders but may also cause other issues, including circadian depression.

To get more insights on circadian depression, we spoke to Dr Chandni Tugnait, Psychotherapist, Founder & Director, Gateway of Healing.

What is Circadian Depression?

Circadian Depression is a proposed subtype of depression that is caused when the body's circadian rhythm, or internal clock, is disrupted. According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, one in four people identified with severe depression have the clinical subtype- circadian depression.

Explaining further, Dr Tugnait shares that circadian rhythm is the internal system that regulates sleep, waking, hormone release, body temperature, and dozens of other biological processes across a roughly 24-hour cycle. In people with circadian depression, this system is dysregulated in ways that directly affect mood. The biological timing of stress hormones and other mood-related chemicals is disrupted, which means the emotional low points aren't random. They're scheduled, in a sense, by a body clock that's running out of sync.

Symptoms of Circadian Depression

The clinical symptoms include:

• Waking up groggy or extremely tired
• Disrupted sleep-wake schedule or waking up late every day
• Life of a 'night owl'
• Dealing with social jetlag or sleeping more on free days
• Significant changes in sleep, mood, energy, and appetite during seasonal shift
• Battling hypersomnia or sleeping more when depressed

To confirm the diagnosis of circadian depression, a person should exhibit three or more of the above-listed symptoms.

Do Circadian Depression Symptoms Vary with Time of The Day?

For most people with circadian depression, the mornings are the hardest part of the day, and the heaviness slowly eases as the hours go by. A lot of people notice that they wake up feeling low and tired, and even getting out of bed takes a real effort on most days. As the day goes on, the heaviness slowly starts to lift, and by evening they usually feel much more like themselves again.

Link Between Seasonal Change and Circadian Depression

According to a study published in the journal ‘Biology’, circadian depression is quite similar to Seasonal Affective Disorder, which usually shows up in winter when the days get shorter, and we don’t get enough sunlight; this can upset the body clock and affect how we feel. People who are sensitive to these changes often find their low phases begin around the same time every year. Because both conditions come from a similar disruption in the body’s rhythm, treatments that help reset that rhythm, such as light therapy, often work well for both.

Also Read: Can Essential Oils Boost Your Mood? The Truth Behind Aromatherapy's Mental Benefits

Sleep and Mood Feed Each Other

Disrupted sleep is both a symptom and a driver of circadian depression. Poor sleep throws the body clock further out of alignment, which worsens mood, which disrupts sleep further. Breaking that cycle is often central to treatment.

Final Word

Recognising that depression can have a biological rhythm to it doesn't make it easier to live with, but it does make it easier to understand and, importantly, easier to treat. Approaches that work with the body clock rather than against it tend to produce more consistent and lasting relief than those that treat depression as a purely psychological experience.