Getting exposure to sunlight in the morning can help you sleep at night because it helps reset your body’s inner “sleep clock.” Light is an important cue for your body’s sleep cycle. However due to lack of sunlight owing to foggy weather in state capital for a week out of 10 days in the ongoing month of January, some people’s biological clock is getting affected. This has been revealed in the research of Human Behavior and Related Institutes. The number of such elderly people are increasing in the psychiatric OPD of Hamidia and JP Hospital. India Aging report states that by 2050, every fifth person in the country will be elderly, hence there is a need to be alert. In the recent study research conducted at AIIMS Bhopal, doctors studied 705 elderly people. Many elderly people showed symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Women were found more stressed than men. However, it has been claimed in the India Aging Report 2023 that the life expectancy of women in India has improved in the last few years. The results of AIIMS research show that sleeping or taking a short nap during the day for the elderly is also beneficial.

 

People have a circadian rhythm, or biological clock, that is driven by serotonin and melatonin levels and can be thrown off course by prolonged dreary weather that can lead to seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that affects people at the same time each year, typically over the winter. The elderly people are at greater risk. Affecting the biological clock in winter is not the only cause of depression. According to the WHO report, deficiency of the happiness-producing hormone serotonin is also important. Serotonin decreases when the body does not get enough Vitamin D. Six out of ten stressed elders do not believe that they are suffering from depression or any other problems.“It’s no accident that most people tend to sleep at night and are awake during the day. Our sleep-wake cycle is determined by our circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock.