A mismatch between your sleep schedule and an optimal sleep-wake cycle may raise your risk of depression and anxiety, especially if you’re naturally inclined to stay up late.
For some people, mornings are a time of productivity and alertness. Others prefer to sleep later and get their best work done in the afternoon and evening.
However, the office tends to be more geared toward a 9-to-5 day, which may force night owls to wake up earlier than they’d like.
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The research indicates that when people’s sleeping patterns are misaligned with a generally healthy body clock — characterized by earlier waking and alignment with natural light cycles — those who are predisposed to later waking, or “night owls,” may be at increased risk of depression and anxiety.
They may also report lowered feelings of well-being.
This risk, however, largely depends on genetic factors, meaning there may be a genetic link between wake time and depression risk.
Study authors based their work on previous research that had already mapped out 351 genes associated with either being an early bird or a night owl.
They then used a type of statistical analysis called Mendelian randomization to look at whether these genes were causally associated with seven mental health and well-being outcomes, such as major depression.
Data from more than 450,000 adults from the U.K. Biobank’s biomedical database was used in the analysis.
The data included genetic information and each person’s assessment of whether they were a morning or evening person.
The team also created a new metric called “social jetlag.” This was used to measure the variation in sleeping patterns between working days and off days.
After analyzing the data, the team found that individuals whose sleep schedules deviated further from an optimal sleep-wake cycle were more likely to experience lower well-being and report greater feelings of depression and anxiety.
In addition, the team found evidence that if a person’s genes have programmed them to be an early riser, this may help protect them from depression, possibly because they would be in more alignment with society’s expectations and their natural circadian rhythm.
Michelle Drerup, PsyD, a clinician with the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center, who was not involved with the study, explained that the body clock, also known as the circadian clock, is an internal clock we all have that keeps track of time.
The body clock drives our daily rhythm by controlling body temperature, hunger, and sleep-wake patterns.
In addition, people have what’s known as a “chronotype,” she said.
“‘Early birds,’ or morning-type chronotypes, have an internal clock that leads to earlier awakenings, while ‘night owls,’ or evening-type chronotypes, typically have difficulty going to bed early and prefer to sleep later into morning,” Drerup said.
She said that chronotypes often shift with age, but genetics largely determine them and behavior reinforces them.
The study authors say the findings are “the most robust evidence yet” that being a morning person protects against depression and improves well-being.
However, Drerup believes that more research is needed before we can say that there’s a cause-effect relationship between sleep times and depression risk.
“If night owls are able to shift to waking slightly earlier, this means they will experience more daylight during waking hours, which tends to have benefits,” she explained.
Drerup said she feels that the most important thing people can focus on is getting enough sleep to meet their individual needs.
Drerup said that, to a certain extent, people can become more in sync with an optimal sleep-wake cycle by providing cues at the right time to signal to their body that it’s time to sleep or wake up.
She suggests the following strategies:
- Set your alarm to wake up at the same time every day.
- Make sure you get exposure to bright light soon after waking.
- Eat a well-balanced diet, and avoid large meals at night.
- Exercise regularly.
- Limit naps, especially later in the day.
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco in the evening.
- Turn off screens at least 1 hour before bedtime.
Cristiano L. Guarana, PhD, an assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, who researches how sleeping patterns affect decision making, relationships, and behaviors in complex organizational contexts, further suggested wearing blue light-filtering glasses before bedtime to improve sleep quality.
He pointed to an experimental 2021 study he authored indicating that wearing blue light-filtering glasses helped improve sleep, work engagement, and several behaviors, including task performance, organizational citizenship behavior, and counterproductive work behavior.
According to the study, filtering blue light may have the same physiological effects as nighttime darkness. He suggested that this intervention might be especially helpful for night owls.
However, more research is needed to show whether blue light-filtering glasses can be an effective treatment.
Guarana said that ideally, organizations could create different work shifts, make work scheduling more flexible, or minimize the use of night shifts to help their workers.
He does acknowledge, however, that this will not be feasible for certain professions, such as healthcare and law enforcement.
Guarana also noted that this study makes a good case for continuing the flexible work patterns that many employers adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Flexible work patterns can be a solution for individual differences in circadian processes (or chronotypes),” he said.
“However, there are some complications related to the social context that, if not addressed, will not help night owls. For example, school starting time. If kids have to wake up early to go to school, parents will probably have to wake up too,” he said.
Guarana also noted that there’s some evidence of employers holding stereotypical views about night owls, with early risers being perceived as “better” employees.
These hurdles would need to be overcome, he explained.
Research suggests that being genetically inclined to wake up early may have a protective effect against depression and anxiety. There are many theories as to why this may be the case, including the reality that society operates on a more early bird schedule.
Although work schedules are often out of one’s control, developing healthy sleep hygiene can help train the body to follow its internal clock better, which may help protect mental health.
