Daylight Savings Time, the Circadian Rhythm, and You

Why do we even do DST in the first place? Honestly, it’s from a time when energy consumption from lights was a larger drain on the economy than it is today. It was first implemented during the end of WWI, came back during WWII, and then was brought back in the 60’s and never went away. These were originally all conservation efforts due to war time rationing. Currently, we do it mostly out of habit.

The circadian rhythm is an innate clock within every animal. We all have sleep and wake cycles that are controlled by this little part of our brain. Not only does it control that, but we even have cycles for hunger, pain tolerance, strength, and blood sugar. Among many others!

The circadian rhythm controls an awful lot in our bodies and is often triggered by light. Light in the morning triggers most people to be awake and get going while fading light and darkness at night trigger our brains to start slowing down and get ready for bed.

The problem with DST is that it interferes with our natural circadian rhythms. This is why we often have such a difficult time adjusting to these changes. Our bodies have a natural cycle they want to follow and a biological clock that determines these. But then we have a social clock that is inconsistent with these messages and also changes twice a year.

Why DST Feels Bad

The argument for keeping DST in the fall is that it gives us more evening light to enjoy things. The problem with this is that is fundamentally messes with our circadian rhythm! We need the light in the morning to let us know that it’s time to be awake and get things done. By making it so that we start our days in the dark, it can be hard to really get going in the morning for most people.

To make it worse, by having it stay light out later in the day, we don’t get the normal signals we need to go to bed. It tricks us into wanting to stay up later. This makes it hard to get into that new routine.

It’s not surprising that we see an uptick in traffic accidents at night during the beginning of DST in the fall! And in the morning for the spring, we also see an uptick in traffic accidents. Not only this, but doctors have even found that the incidence of heart attacks and strokes go up in the days following the DST switch.

All of this can be attributed to the stress that these changes put on our biological clocks and, subsequently, our bodies. The way it impacts our sleep isn’t healthy. But unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do while it’s still law.

What Can We Do About It?

Keeping to your routine as much as possible is important. Stick with your regular sleeping schedule, even though it may be tempting to stay up later or sleep in later. Buying a lightbox can also help if you’re really feeling the lack of vitamin D and light that we would normally be getting from outside.

Self-care can be really important, especially self-care around sleep. Make sure you’re getting the rest you need, especially in the first week or two of the time change. This can make all the difference in the transition!

If you find you’re prone to winter blues or depression with a seasonal pattern, now is the time to be proactive about it. For those with depression, reach out to your care team about considering medication changes or additions to stay ahead. If it’s winter blue, check out our blog post that discusses both of these!

And of course, if you find yourself struggling, reaching out to a therapist can always be helpful.

In our previous post, we discussed the mental health benefits of summer. While there are many benefits of summer for the majority of people, some people experience more mental health difficulties during summer. Most people have heard of SAD, seasonal affective disorder, and the assumption is that it always affects people during the winter. However, some people have SAD in the summer.

Seasonal affective disorder is more formally known as major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. This means that the symptoms of depression come at predictable times seasonally. For the majority of people with SAD, symptoms start in the fall, get more severe during winter, and then resolve by the beginning of spring. However, about 10% of those with SAD experience symptoms starting in late spring which get more severe during summer and then resolve by early fall.

Major Depression or SAD?

The existence of a predictable pattern is what makes it distinctly different from major depressive disorder (MDD). MDD often does not have a specific pattern of onset of symptoms. Not only must the symptoms be seasonal but this pattern needs to exist for a minimum of 2 years in order for someone to be diagnosed with SAD as opposed to MDD or another mood disorder.

SAD is well researched, but the majority of research is for the winter pattern. There is little research about summer pattern SAD, which means we don’t know nearly as much about it. What we do know, is that it shares many of the same symptoms of winter pattern SAD, with a few exceptions. Instead of eating more than usual (especially carbohydrates) as is common in winter pattern SAD, summer pattern usually comes with decreased appetite. This means that people often lose weight as opposed to gaining weight. Summer pattern SAD also comes with more irritability and insomnia, as opposed to hypersomnia (oversleeping) common in winter depression.

There are also some studies that suggest potential triggers for summer pattern SAD. One potential trigger is pollen. Summer depression seems to be more common in those who have seasonal allergies triggered by pollen, which is more common in the spring and summer. Another trigger could be the heat and especially high humidity. Summer pattern SAD seems to be more common in countries that experience high humidity, which suggests this link. There also could be a link between more sunlight and longer days. It’s possible that in those who experience summer SAD that they’re more sensitive to circadian rhythm changes due to the sun. This could be what causes the insomnia many people with summer pattern SAD experience.

Treatment Options

Unlike with winter SAD, we don’t really have specialized treatments for summer pattern SAD. We do know that SSRIs and SNRIs are effective treatments for summer SAD, especially when started 4-6 weeks before the usual onset of symptoms and then discontinued at the end of summer. There is a form of CBT that has been developed specifically for those with seasonal pattern depression called CBT-SAD and that has been effective for treating summer depression, as well. Other suggestions have been to stay out of the heat and sun as much as possible (no more than 30 minutes to an hour), being in air conditioned spaces if possible, and to keep one’s bedroom dark. Going to bed right after sunset and sleeping in a dark room can help offset some of the disturbances the longer days can cause to sleep patterns.

Another suggestion is to try and maintain a normal routine as much as possible. This helps with avoiding the isolation that can come from depression symptoms. Exercise and maintaining a nutritious diet can also help with relieving the severity of symptoms.

While we may not know as much about summer pattern depression as we do about winter, we do know that it exists. If you’re one of those people who experience seasonal depression in the summer, you’re not alone. And there are effective treatment options out there. Hopefully over time, more research will be done on this form of depression and we’ll know even more about it and how best to treat it.

Resources:

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/summer-depression

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/depression/summer-seasonal-affective-disorder?legacy=psycom

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/seasonal-affective-disorder-can-affect-you-in-the-summer-too#Ways-to-combat-summer-SAD-symptoms

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder