Posted on 06/05/2021 7:33:05 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
Waking up just one hour earlier could reduce a person's risk of major depression by 23%, suggests a sweeping new genetic study published May 26 in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The study of 840,000 people, by researchers at University of Colorado Boulder and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, represents some of the strongest evidence yet that chronotype—a person's propensity to sleep at a certain time —influences depression risk.
Using novel statistical techniques, they asked: Do those with genetic variants which predispose them to be early risers also have lower risk of depression?
The answer is a firm yes.
Each one-hour earlier sleep midpoint (halfway between bedtime and wake time) corresponded with a 23% lower risk of major depressive disorder.
Put another way, if someone who normally goes to bed at 1 a.m. goes to bed at midnight instead and sleeps the same duration, they could cut their risk by 23%; if they go to bed at 11 p.m., they could cut it by about 40%.
It's unclear from the study whether those who are already early risers could benefit from getting up even earlier. But for those in the intermediate range or evening range, shifting to an earlier bedtime would likely be helpful.
Light days, dark nights key
What could explain this effect?
Some research suggests that getting greater light exposure during the day, which early-risers tend to get, results in a cascade of hormonal impacts that can influence mood.
For those wanting to shift themselves to an earlier sleep schedule, Vetter offers this advice:
"Keep your days bright and your nights dark," she says. "Have your morning coffee on the porch. Walk or ride your bike to work if you can, and dim those electronics in the evening."
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
The story doesn’t understand the research question. Here’s their question:
Do those with genetic variants which predispose them to be early risers also have lower risk of depression?
So FORCING yourself to wake up earlier is NOT your genetic predisposition. And will change nothing.
Want to reduce your depression risk
Tick off a liberal
Vitamin D3 works too.
Finally something positive about being old....Spokeshave at 79.
Exactly! They study a set of genetic early risers. People with THOSE GENETICS have a lower risk of depression.
Forcing yourself to get up earlier was not studied. Not in any way!
What if the reason for my depression is that I have to wake up an hour earlier each day?
And let’s face it, people genetically predisposed to sleep later are more likely to be getting forced by life to wake up before their genes want to (try being a sleeps til noon person in a 9-5 world). Which is probably going to do bad things for their emotional stability.
hour earlier than when. I get up when I wake up which is usually 5/530AM
I was in the military. We had weeks where we had to brief at 1 or 2 AM for pre-dawn flights. Getting ENOUGH sleep was good for me. Getting up at 1 or 2 or 3AM for work? That did NOTHING for me!
No thanks.
Thanks for you input on that.
I am a hard core night person and do not have any problem with depression.
It is directly describing correlation at this point, to be fair, but the cost to experiment on your own with causation is nil.
I woke up at 3:30AM today. It just made my eyes blurry.
Thanks for you input on that.
I am a hard core night person and do not have any problem with depression.
Getting up an hour early just makes me cranky and want to take a nap later in the day.
I have found that when I visit FL from NY, I feel so much more free and alive.
It’s awesome.
I suspect it’s got to do with the sunlight as well, but the warm temperatures certainly don’t hurt.
Well, then I should be happy as a f-ing clam.
Family is great for staving off depression!
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