A
recently published study about the relationship between sleep time and
depression in teens has many people confused. It was a co-relational study and thus does not
confirm causality. So it is not possible to conclude that going to bed late
causes depression in adolescents. On the other hand, the study does bring the
spotlight back on the well known scientifically but less well appreciated
complex relationship between sleep and depression in teens.
We have known for a long time that sleep is
disturbed in teen depression. We have also known for a long time that the usual
sleep architecture (that is how the different stages of sleep happen during the
night) is disturbed in teen depression. We also know that some teens who get
depressed show subtle changes in their sleep architecture before they get
depressed. Many years ago my research team reported those findings and we also
showed that there were abnormalities in hormone secretion at night in depressed
teens. And, we know that forced waking early in the morning may improve
symptoms in depression. So there is clearly something happening in how the
brain controls mood and how it controls sleep.
But, it is simplistic and wrong to assume
that setting late bedtimes for teen’s causes depression. This is not the case
and it would be foolish to try to tell parents and teens that going to sleep
before midnight is protective against depression. However, there is much for us
to learn about sleep and depression in teenagers. And there is a growing
interest amongst researchers in this area. So stay tuned!
--Stan
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