Severely depression have disrupted biological clock genes

[ScottMentalPod]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/scien ... 14624.html

The researchers found that they could estimate a healthy person's time of death to within a few hours by analysing the activity levels of a set of genes - whether they are switched on 'high' or 'low' - within certain regions of the deceased brain.

However, this correlation broke down when they analysed the autopsied brains of people who had suffered from depression. Their gene activity bore little relationship to the hour of death, which indicated they suffered a severely disrupted sleeping pattern, the scientists found.

...

"In depressed people, [a disrupted biological clock] can become part of a vicious cycle. Therefore, one can speculate that re-setting the clock for instance with light or physical activity, is a reasonable, concrete target to aim for in the treatment of severe depression," Dr Akil added.

My personal conclusion: use a sunlamp everyday at the same time everyday for 20 minutes to keep your internal "clock" regulated.

[Cheldoll]

Thanks for all these links on recent research on mental illness -- they're really interesting.

I use a sunlight (mine's called it a "Happy Light" on the box) in the mornings since I'm out here in the rainy Pacific Northwest. The effect it has on me is subtle, but I do notice I sleep better and wake up a bit easier after using it for a while. I don't use it much now since it's been really sunny.

[ghughes1980]

Well it's 4:17am and I'm still up so that's +1 for the study.