Early Risers May Have Lower Depression Risk

• A new study revealed that early risers may have a reduced risk for depression.
• Waking up even just one hour earlier may reduce one’s risk for depression by over 20 percent while waking up two hours earlier reduces the risk for depression by about 40 percent.
• Waking up earlier also helps improve one’s ability to sleep at a certain time.

Early risers may have a reduced risk for depression, according to a new study.

The study revealed that waking up just one hour earlier not only improves one’s ability to sleep at a certain time but also reduces the risk of major depression by 23 percent.

“We have known for some time that there is a relationship between sleep timing and mood,” said senior study author Celine Vetter. “But a question we often hear from clinicians is: How much earlier do we need to shift people to see a benefit?”

Vetter, an assistant professor of integrative physiology at CU Boulder, declared, “We found that even one hour earlier sleep timing is associated with a significantly lower risk of depression.”

The researchers studied the sleep habits of 840,000 people using data from the biomedical database UK Biobank data and the DNA testing company 23 and Me.

Lead study author Iyas Daghlas, MD, conducted “Mendelian randomization” to analyze cause and effect in genetics.

Daghlas explained, “Our genetics are set at birth so some of the biases that affect other kinds of epidemiological research tend not to affect genetic studies.”

The scientists gathered data from 250,000 individuals who completed sleep questionnaires and 85,000 individuals who wore sleep trackers for seven days.

They found that individuals who slept and woke up an hour earlier reduced their risk of depression by 23 percent. Those who woke up two hours earlier reduced depression risks by 40 percent.

Daghlas added, “We live in a society that is designed for morning people, and evening people often feel as if they are in a constant state of misalignment with that societal clock.”

Daghlas noted that more research is needed to conclude that sleeping early can also reduce depression risk.

To help you adjust your sleep-wake cycle, Vetter suggested keeping “your days bright and your nights dark.”

“Have your morning coffee on the porch. Walk or ride your bike to work if you can, and dim those electronics in the evening,” she continued.

The study, led by the University of Colorado Boulder and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard researchers, was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Source: Yahoo! Life