Study reveals going to bed late can cause depression, anxiety

The findings indicated that night owls were 20% to 40% more likely to receive a mental health disorder diagnosis.

A new study revealed that staying up late might be detrimental to mental health. Research published in the journal Psychiatry Research last month suggested that going to bed by 1 am can significantly lower the risk of developing mental and behavioral disorders such as depression and anxiety.

The study analysed the sleep patterns of nearly 74,000 UK adults, comparing their preferred sleep timing, known as chronotype, with their actual sleep behaviour. Surprisingly, the researchers found that adherence to one’s chronotype was not as important as previously thought.

“We found that alignment with your chronotype is not crucial here, and that really it’s being up late that is not good for your mental health,” explained senior study author Jamie Zeitzer, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, in a statement. “The big unknown is why.”

Of the participants, 19,065 identified as morning types, 6,844 as evening types, and 47,979 as intermediate types. The findings indicated that night owls, even those who followed their natural sleep preferences, were 20% to 40% more likely to receive a mental health disorder diagnosis compared to those on earlier or intermediate sleep schedules. In contrast, those who rose early with the sun exhibited the best mental health outcomes.

Despite these significant findings, some experts have pointed out limitations in the study. Dr. Indira Gurubhagavatula, a professor of sleep medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, highlighted several concerns in an interview with HuffPost.

“The subjects are mostly white and middle-aged or older,” Gurubhagavatula noted. “Plus, chronotype was determined through a participant questionnaire. The way researchers decided which chronotype you are came from a single question, although they did use one that has been validated. But typically, how we assess morningness or eveningness is with a much more thorough questionnaire that has a lot more detailed questions.”