A short YouTube talk by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes explaining how circadian rhythms influence mental health. She emphasizes that rhythms are regulated not only by light but also by social activity and temperature, and that stabilizing them can help regulate hormones and improve sleep (melatonin timing).
Hey there everybody. When we talk about mental health, we don't often talk about the underlying physiological causes of distress, of fatigue, of anxiety. And one of the things that contributes greatly to our problems can be disruption of our circadian rhythms. Now circadian rhythms are the cycles that your body goes through and most of us have been taught that they're set by the light, which is true to an extent. They are also regulated by our social activity as well as the temperature. When it gets cooler outside, our body says hey, it's evening, it's time to start winding down. And when it warms up our body says, hey, it's time to get up and start the day. So paying attention to your circadian rhythms can be super helpful not only for regulating hormones and everything but also helping to regulate your sleep. Sleep, your body will be more cued in as to when to release melatonin if your circadian rhythms are stable.
