When the clocks go back and the nights become longer, many people suffer from what is called Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. It can result in depression, sleep disorders, and appetite changes and can have a devastating effect on some people. However, researchers assure that a little extra darkness at night isn’t a bad thing. The body’s biological clock, or circadian rhythm, determines when we wake, sleep, and eat, and sleeping in darkness is essential to resetting the bodies clock to start fresh each day.
The researchers found that in our modern society, we constantly trick and re-train our bodies clocks without even realizing it. Every television, phone, or even light bulb has the ability to trick our bodies into thinking it is daytime when it isn’t. When we are tricking our bodies into thinking it’s daytime, chemicals such as the sleep-inducing melatonin delay production. Other hormones that control your appetite increase production. It becomes harder to fall asleep when we need it the most, and easier to become distracted.
While the stresses of work and family life can push us to stay up longer and later into the night, when your body tells you it needs rest, it knows what it’s saying. Ignoring the bodies natural cycle will not lead to getting more work done, but quite the opposite, causing inefficiency and a lack of concentration.
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