The theory of social zeitgebers.

 

The theory of social zeitgebers.

Have you ever had a disagreement with someone and then had trouble sleeping or lost your appetite? It may surprise you, but what happens to you on a social level can affect your circadian rhythm. Find out more here.

Of course, this theory does not apply to everyone. People are different from person to person, and someone who is intolerant and lacks proper experience may experience such situations.

Your physical and mental well-being is built through good habits. For this reason, implementing certain routines will make it easier for your body and mind to structure time and its basic psychobiological processes. In this article, we will take a closer look at the theory of social zeitgebers and what it highlights.

Your brain wants you to go to bed at the same time every night. It also wants you to always eat at the same times every day, and also to have scheduled moments of relaxation. Furthermore, healthy and regular routines reduce the risk of suffering from mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety.

This explains why a structured life benefits the care of your circadian rhythms. It allows you to better adapt to moments of light and darkness, which favors the harmony of all physiological and hormonal processes that optimize your well-being. However, sometimes external factors can appear that completely change the harmony of your internal clock.

Psychological balance is not only based on biological elements. In fact, what happens in your environment, or “social zeitgebers”, is behind many depressive disorders.

Until recently, it was taken for granted that bipolar disorder was caused by certain biological changes. Today, the theory of social zeitgebers is seen as more relevant.

Addressing what happens in your environment allows you to maintain the balance of your endogenous processes.

This explains why a structured life benefits the care of your circadian rhythms. It allows you to better adapt to moments of light and darkness, which favors the harmony of all physiological and hormonal processes that optimize your well-being. However, sometimes external factors can appear that completely change the harmony of your internal clock.

Psychological balance is not only based on biological elements. In fact, what happens in your environment, or “social zeitgebers”, is behind many depressive disorders.

Until recently, it was taken for granted that bipolar disorder was caused by certain biological changes. Today, the theory of social zeitgebers is seen as more relevant.

Addressing what happens in your environment allows you to maintain the balance of your endogenous processes.

The theory of social zeitgebers

The theory of social zeitgebers states that negative and unpredictable life experiences disrupt the body's circadian rhythm. This relationship can cause mental health problems.

The University of Pittsburgh in the United States published a study describing this phenomenon. It highlights how any changes in our social rhythms affect our biological clocks, making us more vulnerable to depression.

This interesting concept was first coined in the 1960s by the doctor Jürgen Aschoff. He was one of the founders of chronobiology. A zeitgeber is an element that synchronizes our circadian processes, such as sunlight. In addition to these natural factors, there are social zeitgebers. For example, losing a job or not having a well-structured routine.

Much of the research on this theory has focused on bipolar disorder. For a long time, it was assumed that this condition was caused by neurobiological triggers. But now we know that methods such as social rhythm therapy, which aim to address social zeitgebers, are successful in stabilizing mood in these patients.

One zeitgeber that completely modulates biological rhythms is sunlight. Social zeitgebers, such as lifestyle habits and relationships, also affect circadian processes.

The social sphere changes the biological according to the theory of social zeitgebers

We know that mood disorders, such as depression, respond to a variety of factors. They range from genetic to educational and experiential triggers. It is also important to know that some people are more vulnerable than others to suffering from mental health problems.

The theory of social zeitgebers has been recognized for several years. It states that certain negative events occur in the environment that can modify our circadian rhythm. This leads to emotional disturbances. In fact, the social modifies the biological. This is often shown in different realities:

Arguing or disagreeing with someone.

Losing a job.

Having a job with really long and unbalanced work hours.

Living in a stressful environment.

Having a life without clear routines.

These types of circumstances will affect our eating and sleeping habits. In addition, these triggers can make us stop adapting our lives to the cycles of light and darkness. This affects not only our physical health but also our mental health.

Adjust your routines to adjust your internal biological clock

Your internal biological clock or circadian rhythm does not only depend on your exposure to sunlight during certain hours of the day.

In fact, your lifestyle can completely change it and lead to circadian rhythm disorders. A research study conducted by Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, shows that a disrupted circadian rhythm leads to cognitive impairment, mood disorders and cardiometabolic disorders.

The theory of social zeitgebers claims that a regulated, structured lifestyle with healthy social habits reduces the risk of anxiety and depression.

Patients with bipolar disorder can also better manage their symptoms by addressing these factors.

Social rhythm therapy

Interpersonal and social rhythm therapy (IPSRT) was developed by Dr. Ellen Frank in the 1990s to regulate mood through tighter biological and social routines.

The idea is to control the zeitgebers that alter our well-being. This means creating and developing new routines that take care of our internal clocks. Here are some strategies if you want to try:

Improve your nighttime sleep and eating habits.

Manage your time properly.

Use strategies to regulate your feelings of stress.

Improve your social skills to better handle interpersonal problems.

Improve your schedule by establishing regular times for relaxation and exercise.

In conclusion, having a routine is often key to living a healthy life. Especially if it allows you to adjust the sources of your emotional changes and helps you stay in harmony with your sleep-wake/light-dark cycles. Give it a try.

What is the concept of zeitgeber?

A zeitgeber is any external or environmental cue that entrains, or synchronizes, an organism's circadian clock to the Earth's 24-h light/dark cycle. From: Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences

What is the social rhythm theory?

According to the social rhythm hypothesis of depression, stressful life events interrupt a person's daily routine or regular exposure to “social zeitgebers.” This disruption then leads to instability in specific biological rhythms, such as sleep, in vulnerable individuals.

Who wrote the social zeitgeber theory?

Ehlers, Frank, and Kupfer (1988) proposed that depressive episodes arise as a consequence of life events disturbing social zeitgebers (external cues that function to entrain biological rhythms) which, in turn, derail social and biological rhythms.

The social zeitgeber theory, circadian rhythms, and mood disorders: Review and evaluation.

Abstract

The social zeitgeber theory [Ehlers, C. L., Frank, E., & Kupfer, D. J. (1988). Social zeitgebers and biological rhythms. Archives of General Psychiatry, 45, 948–952] offers an explanation of how life events trigger depressive episodes.

According to this theory, life stress leads to mood episodes by causing disruptions in individuals' social routines and, in turn, their biological circadian rhythms. In this article, we review the literature pertaining to the social zeitgeber theory, as well as evidence that this theory may be applied to (hypo)manic episodes.

Given the limited data supporting the social zeitgeber theory to date, we also evaluate whether circadian rhythm disruptions are triggered by an internal mechanism, such as an abnormality in one's pacemaker (the suprachiasmatic nucleus; SCN). We review these two theories in an attempt to understand the potential causes of circadian rhythm disruptions and affective episodes in individuals with unipolar and bipolar disorders. We also propose several areas of future research.

Introduction

Ehlers, Frank, and Kupfer (1988) proposed that depressive episodes arise as a consequence of life events disturbing social zeitgebers (external cues that function to entrain biological rhythms) which, in turn, derail social and biological rhythms. According to this theory, disruptions in these rhythms influence somatic symptoms (e.g., sleep propensity) that in vulnerable individuals leads to a major depressive episode (see Fig. 1).

This theory was, in part, derived from the substantial evidence that depressed individuals have irregular biological rhythms, such as sleep–wake cycles, temperature, melatonin, and cortisol rhythms (Howland & Thase, 1999). Recent evidence suggests that the social zeitgeber theory may also explain (hypo)manic episodes of individuals with bipolar disorder (Frank et al., 2005, Malkoff-Schwartz et al., 2000, Malkoff-Schwartz et al., 1998).

In this review, we elaborate on the associations proposed by the social zeitgeber theory, including its relevance to hypo(manic) episodes. Second, we focus on possible causes of circadian rhythm disruptions in unipolar and bipolar individuals. Consistent with the social zeitgeber theory, we will review studies suggesting that life events (external triggers) may trigger circadian rhythm disruptions and, consequently, affective episodes in vulnerable individuals (see Fig. 1). Alternatively, we will also discuss studies that suggest these circadian rhythm disruptions are due to a stable, trait-like, dysfunction in vulnerable individuals.

 We suggest that this stable dysfunction may be a biological abnormality in unipolar and bipolar individuals' pacemakers.

For reasons of parsimony, we term this theory the “internal trigger” theory, referring to an abnormality within the body, such as a genetic mutation. The “internal trigger” hypothesis is contrasted with the social zeitgeber theory, an “external trigger” hypothesis (see Fig. 1). In this review, we use the social zeitgeber theory interchangeably with the external trigger hypothesis.

Evidence for each proposed causal link of the social zeitgeber theory, or the five associations numbered in Fig. 1, is discussed in turn. First, we review the association of life events, social zeitgebers and rhythms, and mood (see Fig. 1). Next, we discuss the association of social and biological rhythm disruptions (pathway 3 in Fig. 1). We then review the association of biological rhythm disruptions and mood (pathways 4 and 5 in Fig. 1). In each section, we specifically discuss how the findings pertain to the internal or external trigger hypotheses, or both.

 We begin by providing necessary background on the definition and assessment of mood disorders, life events, social zeitgebers, social rhythms, and biological rhythms in this literature.

A major depressive episode is diagnosed when an individual experiences five or more depressive symptoms for two weeks (for symptoms see Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition-Text Revision (DSM IV-TR), American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). It is also possible that individuals may experience less severe episodes, or minor depressive episodes, which require fewer symptoms as well as a shorter duration and less persistence of these symptoms (see Research Diagnostic Criteria; Spitzer, Endicott, & Robins, 1978).

The majority of the studies reviewed only included individuals who had experienced major depressive episodes in their study groups; however, some studies did not make a distinction between participants who experienced minor or major depression. We will make this distinction whenever possible in reviewing the studies, as some studies did find differences between these subtypes (e.g., Brown et al., 1996). We also distinguish between individuals with clinical depression (e.g., individuals who have experienced a major or minor depressive episode) and individuals who have experienced only depressive symptoms.

 In short, we categorize individuals who have experienced a major or minor depressive episode (but not a manic or hypomanic episode) as unipolar depressed.

Individuals with bipolar disorder experience hypomanic or manic episodes as well as depressive episodes (although a depressive episode is not necessary for a bipolar diagnosis). Individuals diagnosed with bipolar I disorder experience at least one manic episode (and typically, at least one major depressive episode as well). Individuals diagnosed with bipolar II disorder experience at least one hypomanic episode, which is less severe and persistent than mania (see APA, 2000).

In this review, bipolar disorder refers to individuals with bipolar I disorder unless otherwise specified.

Most studies utilize the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM version III-R (SCID; Spitzer, Williams, Gibbon, & First, 1990) or the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Lifetime version (SADS-L; Endicott & Spitzer, 1978) to diagnosis individuals with bipolar or unipolar disorder. Several studies have examined the reliability and validity of the SCID diagnoses (Segal et al., 1995, Skre et al., 1991, Williams et al., 1992, Zanarini and Frankenburg, 2001).

 In general, the kappas from these studies for diagnoses range from 0.5 to 1.0. In regards to its validity, several studies have used the SCID as the “gold standard” in determining the accuracy of clinical diagnoses (e.g., Shear et al., 2000, Steiner et al., 1995).

Studies also have found high reliability coefficients for the SADS-L interview, particularly for current and past diagnoses of mood disorders (Alloy and Abramson, 1999, Alloy et al., 2000, Hammen, 1991, Reilly-Harrington et al., 1999).

What are examples of zeitgebers?

Zeitgebers are environmental cues that affect your circadian rhythm (process C). Meals and exercise are examples of zeitgebers, but the most powerful zeitgeber is light and dark. Light suppresses melatonin secretion and if you get too much light in the night, this can prevent you from falling asleep.

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