Circadian misalignment in mood disturbances

Abstract  Recent refinements in methodology allow chronobiological researchers to answer the following questions: is there circadian
misalignment in sleep and mood disturbances, and, if so, is it of the phase-advance or phase-delay type? Measurement of the
dim light melatonin onset-to-midsleep interval, or phase-angle difference, in sleep and mood disorders should answer these
questions. Although the phase-advance hypothesis of affective disorders was formulated three decades ago, recent studies suggest
that many, if not all, mood disturbances have a circadian misalignment component of the phase-delay type, operationally defined
as a delay in the dim light melatonin onset relative to the sleep/wake cycle. Phase-delayed disorders can be treated with
bright light in the morni…

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