Andrew Huberman· PhD
Cortisol peaks in the evening are correlated with depression.
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Cortisol peaks in the evening are correlated with depression.
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And late shifted cortisol, meaning cortisol that increases around 8:00 or 9:00 PM is a signature feature of many depressive disorders, including major depression, anxiety. And that of course correlates with things like insomnia, et cetera.
That's the ideal circumstance. In fact, you don't really want elevated cortisol late in the day. That's actually a signature of depression and anxiety and a number of other unfortunate things.
one of the worst situations as you pointed out is when the highest level of cortisol is consistently shifted to the afternoon period in fact that's a um pretty reliable signature of certain forms of depression
in fact late day elevations in cortisol are a strong correlate of depressive symptoms
late day cortisol is Peaks are associated with depression anxiety this was done by my colleague David Spiegel and the great Robert spolski at Stanford
But a late shifted cortisol pulse in particular a 9:00 PM or 8:00 PM increase in cortisol is one of the consequences and maybe one of the causes of a lot of anxiety disorders and depression.
So, cortisol levels are increased. In particular, there's a signature pattern of depression whereby cortisol, this stress hormone that normally is released in a healthy way only in the early part of the day, is shifted to late in the day. In fact, a 9:00 PM peak in cortisol is one of the physiological signatures of depressive-like states.
In fact, a 9:00 PM peak in cortisol is one of the physiological signatures of depressive-like states.
A late shifted increase in cortisol, however, 9M cortisol, 10 p.m. cortisol is well known to be associated with depression and other aspects of mental health, rash, as a mental illness.