Anna Wirz-Justice - Circadian Rhythms, Winter Depression, Light Therapy - October 2022

Professor Anna Wirz-Justice has invested her academic career into looking into chronobiology - the study of biological rhythms. The best studied rhythm in chronobiology is the roughly 24-hour circadian rhythm.

In our 24-hour, 7-day society, we don't pay as much attention to the outer rhythm of day and night, of light and darkness, as we should - at the expense of our health. When we ignore circadian rhythms and our internal clock, the result can be sleep disorders and various types of depression. One of these is winter depression - or Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), with light as its therapy of choice. This has long been an area of study at the Centre for Chronobiology in the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel.

Anna Wirz-Justice talked to us about biological rhythms, sleep, winter depression, and light therapy. Listen to the interview below - and visit the non-profit Center for Environmental Therapeutics website for more information.