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Types Types of Circadian Rhythm Disorders
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TRTM). Delayed Circadian Rhythm Disorders (DCR) With delayed circadian rhythm disorder, the pineal gland in the brain releases the sleep hormone melatonin later in the night than usual. In the morning, the body is still producing melatonin when the body should be waking up – this causes the person to take several hours to feel active and energetic. DCR is marked by a delay of the sleep-wake cycle as it relates to the demands of society. DCR may lead to chronic sleep deprivation and habitually late sleeping hours. People with DCR commonly have:
Advanced Circadian Rhythm Disorder (ACR) With advanced circadian rhythm disorder, the pineal gland releases the sleep hormone melatonin earlier in the evening causing people fall asleep and wake up earlier than they would like. People with ACR tend to feel tired early in the afternoon, and cannot perform normal function in the evening due to fatigue. Although they tend to have little difficulty falling asleep, people with ACR tend to compress the sleep portion of the daily cycle, and the melatonin secretion stops earlier in the morning, causing ACR sufferers often sleep less than 8 hours per night. People with ACR commonly have:
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Seasons can have a profound impact on mood. If you're vulnerable to the winter blues, you may experience a shift in mood that affects your ability to thrive – this is known as Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is medically recognized as a sub-type of major depression. During the dark fall and winter months, the brain’s control center, the Suprachaismatic Nucleus (SCN) or body clock doesn’t receive the proper stimulus of light. The SCN needs bright light signals to reset itself each day. When it doesn't receive this signal, it malfunctions and produces the wrong hormones at the wrong time of day. Research shows that without enough sunlight, the brain doesn't produce enough serotonin, resulting in the symptoms of depression. The darker days also signal the brain to overproduce the hormone, melatonin. People with SAD commonly have:
Shift Work Fatigue among shift workers is an internationally recognized problem across multiple industries. Night workers are just as likely as day workers to perform tasks requiring attention to detail, reasoning, decision-making, and other mental skills. The impact of shift work on one’s overall health is astounding. Shift workers commonly have:
Jet Lag Jet lag is caused by transmeridian travel across at least three time zones. There are 24 time zones around the world - one for each hour in the day. Until recently, jet lag was dismissed as merely an unpleasant side effect of air travel. New research suggests that it may also cause memory loss, shrinkage of parts of the brain and negative side effects on blood pressure. Jet lag can disrupt more than 50 physiological and psychological rhythms in the body. Unaided, it takes your body 1 day per time zone to readjust. It may take 2 to 3 weeks to completely realign your rhythms. Jet lag suffers commonly have:
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