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Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 27 No. 2, 2015.

Short communication, Note

DEPRESSION AND CIRCADIAN TYPOLOGY

Jelena Bielen ; Department of Emergency Medicine, Sisters of Charity University Hospital Centre, Zagreb, Croatia
Anja Melada ; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivona Markelić ; Emergency Center Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

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Abstract

Background: The relationship between circadian disruptions and depressive disorders is a topic of great interest in contemporary
psychiatry. Circadian rhythms include all physiological processes displaying a period around 24 hours. Sleep/wake cycles, body
temperature, hormone secretion and other functions are subjected to person’s individual circadian rhythm. Circadian typology includes
three chronotypes: morning, neither and evening. The aim of this study was to examine the chronobiological aspects of depression.
Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to determine circadian rhythmic expression in 60 patients suffering from depression.
The patients were in remission and were treated as outpatients at the Department of Psychiatry of the University Hospital Center
Zagreb. The data were compared to a control group consisting of 40 medical workers employed at the University Hospital Centre
Zagreb. A self-report measure of circadian typology was utilized - the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire.
Results: According to our findings, among depressed patients 35% were morning, 58.3% neither and 6.7% evening types. In the
control group 46% were morning, 48% neither and 6.0% evening types. Depressed patients reported stronger morning fatigue.
Further, they tended to go to sleep earlier and felt more tired earlier in the evening, and they were less prone to choosing morning
periods for completing complex cognitive tasks.
Conclusion: This study supports the association between depression and some alterations in circadian rhythms of behavior and
sleep. Depression may be considered as the consequence or trigger of circadian disturbances. However, both depression and circadian
rhythm disturbances may have a common aetiology: a decreased cellular resilience associated with lower resistance to stressful events.

Keywords

depression - circadian rhythm - circadian typology – morning - evening

Hrčak ID:

162398

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/162398

Publication date:

9.6.2015.

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