SLEEP 2026 | Harnessing circadian biology to improve mental health outcomes

So we know from years of study that circadian rhythms and sleep are highly disrupted in people with psychiatric disorders. This has been studied for a really long time and really impacts almost all psychiatric disorders. Everything from depression to autism, ADHD, schizophrenia are all associated with major disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms. And in fact, these are some of the diagnostic criteria that are used for these disorders. But what we have really done over the last several years is kind of identify very specific sorts of factors that are involved in specific diseases and even states of diseases. So for example, we know with bipolar disorder that mania is associated with a phase advance in rhythms, where depression is associated with a phase delay in rhythms. We know that people who have a late chronotype, so who are night owls versus morning people, are more susceptible to depression. We know that keeping your circadian rhythms aligned in a certain way can be really beneficial. So the field has really evolved to know a little bit more about the specifics of the circadian rhythm disruptions that are going on with each psychiatric disease and condition. We also know a lot more about the biological mechanisms of how the circadian clock regulates mood, regulates reward, anxiety, and so that will lead in the future to more precise, better treatments.

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