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不少抑郁症患者早上醒来依然很累，这可能不只是“没睡好”。悉尼大学脑与心智中心的研究团队在2026年10月21日发表研究，分析了11380名澳大利亚重度、反复或长期抑郁症患者的临床和基因数据，发现约四分之一的人符合他们提出的“昼夜节律型抑郁症”标准：例如醒来非常疲惫、是夜猫子、抑郁时睡得更多、病情随季节变化，或工作日与休息日作息差别很大。这一群体发病更早、症状更重，自述常见抗抑郁药效果较差；研究者认为光照疗法、褪黑素等针对身体时钟的方法可能更有用。不过，未参与研究的专家提醒，这一亚型还不能直接进入临床，相关表现也可能只是睡眠不好造成的，但他们同意医生应询问患者的作息规律。文章按“现象—研究方法—发现—解释—不同意见—个人经历”展开。阅读时可留意 may、suggests、might 等词如何表达研究结论的不确定性，以及 however 如何引出研究局限和不同看法。本文仅为新闻阅读，不构成医疗建议。

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Many people with depression wake up feeling very tired, even after a long night in bed. A new Australian study suggests that, for some of them, this may be more than a sleep problem. It may point to what researchers call “circadian depression”, a type of depression linked to the body’s 24-hour internal clock.

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许多抑郁症患者即使在床上睡了很久，醒来时仍感到非常疲惫。澳大利亚的一项新研究表明，对其中一些人来说，这可能不只是睡眠问题。它可能指向研究人员所说的“昼夜节律型抑郁症”，即一种与身体24小时内在时钟相关的抑郁症。

The study, by experts at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, was published on 21 October in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The team looked at clinical and genetic data from 11,380 Australians with severe, repeated or long-lasting depression. All had taken part in a long-running national study.

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这项研究由悉尼大学脑与心智中心的专家完成，于10月21日发表在《英国精神病学杂志》上。研究团队分析了11380名患有严重、反复发作或长期抑郁症的澳大利亚人的临床和基因数据。他们都参加过一项长期进行的全国性研究。

People were placed in the circadian group if they reported at least three signs. These included waking up very tired, being a “night owl“, sleeping more when depressed and having a seasonal pattern of illness. Another sign was “social jet lag“, when sleep times change a lot between work days and free days. Of them, 2,604, or nearly one in four, met the standard.

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如果参与者报告了至少三种迹象，就会被归入昼夜节律组。这些迹象包括醒来时非常疲惫、是“夜猫子”、抑郁时睡得更多，以及病情呈季节性规律。另一种迹象是“社会时差”，即工作日和休息日的睡眠时间相差很大。其中有2604人，也就是将近四分之一，符合这一标准。

This group differed in other ways too. Their depression often started earlier in life, and their symptoms were more serious. They also had a higher genetic risk for some heart problems and for ADHD, a condition that affects attention. Many said common antidepressant drugs worked less well for them. However, lead researcher Emiliana Tonini noted this finding came from people’s own reports, so it needs more testing.

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这一群体在其他方面也有所不同。他们的抑郁症往往在更早的年龄出现，症状也更严重。他们患某些心脏问题以及注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD，一种影响注意力的疾病）的遗传风险也更高。许多人表示，常见的抗抑郁药对他们效果较差。不过，主要研究者埃米莉安娜·托尼尼指出，这一发现来自参与者的自我报告，因此还需要更多检验。

The researchers believe treatments aimed at the body clock, such as light therapy and melatonin, may be more useful for this group. “Depression is not a uniform illness,” Dr Tonini said. Knowing its different types, she explained, could give people earlier access to the treatments that work best for them.

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研究人员认为，针对身体时钟的治疗方法，比如光照疗法和褪黑素，可能对这一群体更有用。托尼尼博士说：“抑郁症并不是一种千篇一律的疾病。”她解释说，了解它的不同类型，可以让人们更早获得对自己最有效的治疗。

Other experts are more cautious. Philip Mitchell of the University of New South Wales, who was not part of the study, said the idea is not yet ready for use in hospitals and needs support from research in other countries. Shanthakumar Rajaratnam of Monash University pointed out that being a night owl or waking up tired might also be caused by poor sleep. Both agreed, however, that doctors should ask patients with depression about their sleep patterns, alongside normal treatment.

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其他专家则更为谨慎。未参与这项研究的新南威尔士大学的菲利普·米切尔表示，这一概念还不能用于医院，还需要其他国家研究的支持。莫纳什大学的尚塔库马尔·拉贾拉特南指出，是夜猫子或醒来感到疲惫，也可能是睡眠不好造成的。不过两人都认为，医生在提供常规治疗的同时，应该询问抑郁症患者的睡眠规律。

One of the study’s authors, Sam Hockey, has lived with depression for more than 20 years. Learning about his body clock and making small changes, such as putting his bedside light on a timer, has helped him. Understanding it earlier, he said, would have saved him “a lot of grief”.

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这项研究的作者之一萨姆·霍基已与抑郁症相伴20多年。了解自己的身体时钟并做出一些小改变，比如给床头灯设置定时器，对他有所帮助。他说，如果能更早了解这一点，就能少受“很多痛苦”。

新闻来源

• The University of Sydney · Researchers identify new “circadian” subtype of depression (21 Oct 2026)
• ABC News · One in four people with severe depression have dysregulated body clock, study suggests (21 Oct 2026)
• British Journal of Psychiatry · Clinical and genetic correlates of a circadian subtype of depression in the Australian Genetics of Depression Study (DOI)

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