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The practice that began in 1916 was designed to maximize exposure to daylight during the time that most people are active and outdoors. Twice a year every year, more than 70 countries and 1.6 billion people shift the clocks by one hour in a practice known as daylight savings. Research has shown that blue light directly inhibits our body’s melatonin flow, hurting our ability to fall asleep in addition to negatively impacting the quality of the sleep we get. While some blue light is beneficial, too much of it could be negatively impacting our health. This is one of many wavelengths of light that the sun naturally emits, but in our blue-lit 21st-century world, we’re being bombarded with round-the-clock blue light. For most people, most of this time is spent in front of electronics like phones, computers, and televisions, all of which emit primarily blue light. A review done in 2013 found that the majority of those with mood disorders also have circadian rhythm disturbances affecting their sleep and wake cycles.Īnother factor that may play a role in winter insomnia is the great amount of time spent indoors. Many people suffering from depression report insomnia and other sleep disturbances, and scientists have identified that the part of the brain that regulates sleep is also closely tied to mood. More and more research is looking at the close connection between mood and sleep. In Norway, where there is a lack of daylight over several winter months, individuals reported insomnia, fatigue, and depression. In Ghana, where the duration of daylight remains constant, there was hardly any difference in sleep or mood throughout the winter months. One study compared sleep and mood in people living in two drastically different areas of the world where there is a great variation in sunlight throughout the seasons. Several studies in Northern countries have found that the darker winter months are associated with poor sleep. While most individuals with winter-onset SAD experience excessive fatigue and sleep, there are some who have the opposite problem. Healthy individuals don’t have this signal, so it could be part of the reason people with SAD react differently to the change in season. The problem with this signal in humans is that we don’t hibernate like other mammals. They discovered that “patients with seasonal affective disorder generate a biological signal of change of season that is absent in healthy volunteers and that is similar to the signal that mammals use to regulate seasonal changes in their behavior.” In one study, individuals with seasonal affective disorder had circadian rest-activity rhythms that were delayed by up to 70 minutes compared to healthy controls.Īnother study examined whether the circadian pacemaker in patients with SAD signals a change in day length after the transition from winter to summer. Research has discovered that “the circadian signal that indicates a seasonal change in day length has been found to be timed differently, thus making it more difficult for their bodies to adjust 3. Increased melatonin and decreased serotonin can have a huge impact on this internal 24-hour sleep-wake clock.įor this reason, people with SAD often have a circadian rhythm delay. The winter months bring less light exposure, which we’ve identified as a key factor in regulating the body’s circadian rhythm. Research has also discovered that people with SAD may produce less vitamin D, and a deficiency of this vitamin has been linked to depression. Many people living in northern climates have lower levels of vitamin D over the winter months, so much so that physicians often recommend a supplement between the months of November and March. A detailed examination of National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2001 to 2004 discovered that 77 percent of the U.S. twice a week to get sufficient vitamin D, but most people aren’t even getting this. You only need 5 to 30 minutes of sun exposure to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen between 10:00 a.m. Vitamin D has many different functions, and one is its involvement in serotonin activity. You’ve probably heard of this sunshine vitamin and that it also acts as a hormone in the body. Another downside to spending so much time indoors is that the skin misses out on the sun exposure it requires to produce vitamin D.
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