Experts Note Children with Mental Health Disorders May Be More Sensitive to Daylight Savings Time Change
Announcements / March 2, 2019

Maintaining a healthy sleep schedule for a child or adolescent is part of a solid foundation for every family’s well-being. For children or adolescents with a mental or behavioral health diagnosis, sleep is especially vital. Physicians at Nationwide Children’s Hospital say they notice several changes in sleeping patterns around daylight savings time, which can particularly affect patients with a mental health diagnosis. “Sleep is a more complicated issue for patients with a mental health disorder,” says Robert Kowatch, MD, Ph.D, child and adolescent psychiatrist and sleep medicine specialist at Nationwide Children’s. “Different conditions affect sleep differently, as do various medications for these conditions and their related side effects. These patients may be more sensitive to time changes than the typical child or teen.” For example: Children and teens with bipolar disorder often sleep less when manic, or hypomanic. In certain instances, changes in the circadian rhythm of a person with bipolar disorder can cause a manic episode, and this can be triggered by the change in time. Depression may make it more difficult for a child to fall asleep and stay asleep. Teens with anxiety often struggle with insomnia because their innate anxiety makes it difficult to relax and fall…