Science warns night owls: Going to sleep after 1 a.m. linked to mental health issues

For those who thrive in the quiet of the night, the idea that late hours are productive has long been embraced. Psychology and chronobiology, the study of biological rhythms, previously suggested that aligning one's life with their natural chronotype was key to health. This implied that night owls should naturally sleep and wake later.

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What's interesting about the Stanford work is that it slightly reduces the prominence of the chronotype – as a preference, as culture, as environment – and places the weight on what time we go to sleep.

However, a significant body of scientific research is challenging this long-held belief. Massive studies led by researchers Jamie Zeitzer and Renske Lok at Stanford University have uncovered a correlation between late sleeping habits and mental health disorders. Their findings indicate that to protect the brain from developing conditions like anxiety and depression, the cutoff time for turning off lights should be 1 a.m.

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The conclusion is that if we systematically go to bed late, if this is chronic and always after midnight, we don't manage to compensate for the necessary hours of sleep, and this leads to various disorders. From daytime sleepiness, altered mood, and in some cases, a correlation (not causal) with mental health disorders.

Diego Golombek, a professor at the University of San Andrés and a leading chronobiology expert, explained the implications of the Stanford research. "What's interesting about the Stanford work is that it slightly reduces the prominence of the chronotype – as a preference, as culture, as environment – and places the weight on what time we go to sleep," Golombek said. "The conclusion is that if we systematically go to bed late, if this is chronic and always after midnight, we don't manage to compensate for the necessary hours of sleep, and this leads to various disorders. From daytime sleepiness, altered mood, and in some cases, a correlation (not causal) with mental health disorders."

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Argentina, in this sense, is typically a night owl society: we do everything very late.

Golombek noted that Argentina, like individuals, can have societal chronotypes. "Argentina, in this sense, is typically a night owl society: we do everything very late," he observed. "We have dinner very late. Moreover, dinner is usually when people, family, friends get together, and it's the heaviest meal of the day. Argentinians have little separation between dinner time and bedtime. This wouldn't be serious if it were a cultural or environmental issue, but the next day, work and school start at the same time as in the rest of the world, which compresses our sleep hours. We have some causal evidence that chronically compressing sleep hours leads to many problems."

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We have dinner very late. Moreover, dinner is usually when people, family, friends get together, and it's the heaviest meal of the day. Argentinians have little separation between dinner time and bedtime.