Many Indians have to sleep times, one for weekdays and one for the weekends. When they clash, the bring on
“Social Jetlag” raising long-term health risks.
You take a flight from Bangalore to London on Saturday. On Monday morning, you’re struggling to stay sharp or keep your eyes open.
The term for what you feel is probably all well-known to you — jetlag. Now, take another scenario.
It’s a weekend where you haven’t stepped out of home at all but have binge-watched the latest season of web series on two consecutive nights. Come Monday and the meetings seem like a blur, you need coffee to stay awake and energy is low. There’s a term for this, too.
“It’s called social jetlag.” It occurs when you go to bed and wake up much later on weekends than your work days, creating a weekly cycle of time zone travel without actually leaving home. Sleep researchers coined the term to describe the mismatch between our biological clock, what we call our circadian rhythm, and our socially-imposed sleep schedules.”
MIND YOUR MID-SLEEP POINT:
Busy urban lives are forcing millions of Indians into two sleep times — one for weekdays and one for weekends. The first is clockwork, taking work commutes, professional commitments and deadlines into account. Like sleeping at 11.30 pm and waking up at 6 am. The other is tuned to relaxation and ‘chilling’, involving party nights, OTT binges, etc. Like sleeping at 2 or 3 am and waking up at noon or later.
Monday morning is when these two two ‘time zones’ collide. That’s what brings about the ‘Monday crash.’
“Even six cups of strong coffee weren’t enough to get rid of severe headaches and brain fog that he woke up to on Mondays. The symptoms stayed will midweek and he felt irritable all day, with a nagging heartburn to boot. Despite being a regular gym-goer and a modest eater, his weight kept increasing.”
“A different of more than an hour between mid-sleep points (the hallway point between the time you fall asleep and the time you wake up) becomes a chronic; weekly stressor on our body’s physicology, disrupting our hormones, metabolism, immune function, and mental clarity.”
Adults with normal sleep duration, social jetlag of more than one hour increased chances of metabolic syndrome, conditions that raise risks of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
BODY HAS A MASTER CLOCK:
But first, what is the body clock that a skewed sleep cycle keeps disrupting? “It’s a 24- hour rhythm initiated by a center in the brain, a master clock that controls miniature clocks in all our body parts in our very cells.”
“All these clocks are supposed to be synchronized to control metabolism, health, mood, and appetite so that you remain productive and healthy. This system goes into disarray when we try to stay awake at a time when the body is telling us to sleep.
Unfortunately, it’s become a norm now. We are seeing a big wave of patients.”
Effects of social jetlag mostly crop up in one’s 30s and 40s, but a sleep disruptions begin early as early as college years. Many young adults turn in late for the night, studying and connecting with friends on social media till three or four in the morning, and sleep late as 6 am on weekends. “When you’re younger, your body keeps adapting to the sleep deficit, with scattered naps during the day. But by the time you’re in the mid-30s and working, the body can’t take it anymore. Mental sharpness and productivity takes a dip, performance falters. They start getting brain fog and hypertension.”
This is also the time when you’re climbing up the corporate ladder, getting married, having kids, caring for parents and taking on serious responsibilities. As life transforms, you find no time for yourself. Higher the stress, more the need to unwind over the weekend. The result is erratic sleep times. “But the body doesn’t know if it’s a weekday or a weekend. So, if you sleep at 5 am on certain days and in around 12 am on others, sleep won’t come. It will only make you an insomniac.”
HORMONAL CONFUSION:
Our hormones take the first hit. “If your bedtime suddenly shifts from 11 pm to 3 am, your body gets confused about how to regulate melatonin (a sleep hormone) and cortisol ( a wake-up hormone) signals. Over time, this compromises one’s health and well-being.”
Social jetlag also reduces appetite-suppressing hormone leptin while turning up hunger hormone ghrelin, which is what triggers the midnight munches.”
Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to prediabetes, increasing sugar cravings and making it difficult to prioritize nutritious food choices.” Many of the patients report better sleep just by upping their protein intake as they get the amino acid tryptophan to make neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin that aid sleep.
WAKE UP, LOOK AT THE SUN!
How to bring your sleep cycle back in sync with your body clock?”
The first thing was to fix wake-up time at 7 am for weekdays and weekends. It’s called chronotherapy, where you gradually shift sleep time backward (through light exposure) or forward (by pushing ahead sleep time).
When waking up late, sunlight could be the best ‘zeitgeber’ (time-giver) to reset a partially misaligned body clock, alongside physical activity and reduced late-night screen time. “In modern world settings, avoiding back-toback social gatherings or late-night eating can make a noticeable difference.”
WHAT ARE SOCIAL JETLAG SYMPTOMS?
- Fatigue and headaches in the morning.
- Brain fog, irritability and mood swings.
- Weight gain, insulin sensitivity, hypertension.
- Increased joint pains, body aches (especially in older adults).
- Indigestion, classic IBS markers like diarrhea, and constipation.
TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR SLEEP:
- Keep bedtime the same everyday. Up to an hour earlier or later during weekends is alright but no more.
- Avoid caffeine or high sugar foods (in late evening).
- No screens before you go to bed.
- Wear glasses that block blue light if you are using a screen after sunset.
- Start a wind down ritual like journaling or reading.
WHAT HORMONES DO:
- Melatonin (sleep hormone) and cortisol (wake-up hormone) have a regulatory clash when sleep time is irregular.
- Leptin (appetite-suppresor) gets reduced and ghrelin (appetite-inducer) levels go up. Hence, the midnight snack craving.
