Consistent daily routine cuts pain and depression, even with poor sleep
Older adults with regular daily schedules reported much less pain and fewer depression symptoms no matter their sleep quality.
Reported by ScienceDaily
ShareWhy it matters
Routine is a simple, free health strategy for managing pain and depression. This is especially important since about half of adults over 60 struggle with insomnia.
In Australia. Australian older adults managing chronic pain or depression may benefit from maintaining consistent daily schedules without waiting for sleep problems to resolve.
Key facts
- 67 older adults
- Participants studied
- 37
- With insomnia
- About half
- Insomnia prevalence age 60+
- Researchers at the University of Missouri studied 67 older adults, half with insomnia.
- Participants kept regular times for waking, eating, working, socialising, and sleeping and reported less physical pain and lower depression symptoms even when sleep quality remained poor.
- A regular pattern helps explain this.
- Your body's internal clock controls when you sleep, your energy level, and your mood.
- Social jet lag, waking early for work but sleeping late on weekends, disrupts this clock.
- The findings suggest that a predictable schedule kept throughout the week including weekends may support better health.
