According to a study conducted by the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Center, this issue may be addressed by identifying a specific subtype of depression referred to as “circadian depression.”
Researchers have discovered one distinct cluster of symptoms in a quarter of major depression patients who do not respond to standard treatments.
These patients were diagnosed with depression characterized by disrupted circadian rhythms — a group of disorders involving the 24-hour physiological cycle.
The signs that were present in these patients are as follows:
- Excessive sleeping and being tired extremely hard in the morning
- Evening chronotype (night owl)
- Later midpoint of sleep, social jet lag, and seasonality.
Since this type of depression shares a unique cluster of biological and genetic risk factors with disrupted chronobiology, patients diagnosed with it often report limited efficacy of serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and a higher intolerance to these medications.
Doctors recommend chronobiology-oriented treatments, such as morning bright light therapy and melatonin agonists, plus regular routines of sleeping and eating.
This information may prove helpful to clinicians and patients. By recognizing the red flags of circadian rhythm depression, the former group can determine whether a patient has depression that does not respond to traditional treatments and address it with specific measures instead of the “trial and error” method.
Read Full Article on Medbound Times: New “Circadian Depression” Subtype Linked to Body Clock Disruptions and Poor Antidepressant Response
Have you ever encountered a situation where patients suffered from disrupted body clock on a large scale? Would you take a questionnaire/ some other test to know if you have a circadian depression ?
MBH/PS