Introduction
Melatonin is a natural hormone that your body manufactures when it’s dark. It helps regulate your twenty-four-hour clock, allowing you to fall asleep at night. Scientific research suggests that this naturally occurring hormone can play a significant role in other bodily and brain functions, including emotions and mood.
While some users have given evidence that melatonin supplementation exacerbates depression symptoms by lowering their levels of energy, others have proposed that it could enhance depression signs in individuals living with depression and other mental disorders.
Scientific researchers have so far provided mixed results, and thorough research is required to prove whether melatonin supplementation can be a perfect or an effective complementary for depression.
What’s Melatonin?
Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone manufactured in the middle of the brain in a gland know as pea-sized pineal. The hormone regulates sleep timing, and it’s circulated into the body when it senses darkness, signaling to the system that it’s a perfect time to sleep. The hormone moves to the circadian clock located in the hypothalamus, which maintains consistency between the time you go to sleep and wake up.
But melatonin doesn’t move the body into an immediate slumber state. It is more like a zigzagging signal that alerts the body it’s a perfect time to go and rest. It achieves this by slightly lowering the body’s temperature, making you less alert.
How Can Melatonin Help?
According to scientific research, melatonin can be used for various reasons and purposes. People may use melatonin to combat insomnia, jet lag, delayed sleep phase disorder, sleep-wake disturbances, circadian rhythm sleep disorder, and shift work sleep disorder.
Some individuals even use the melatonin supplement to help with a seasonal affective disorder that causes depression levels to rise, especially when sunlight is limited due to shorter days.
How Does Melatonin Affect the Brain and the Body?
According to experts, melatonin turns some parts of the brain off and on. As it does that, it helps with sleep timing to allow people to have regular circadian phases and makes the immune system stronger as well. It is crucial to boost your sleep as well as the sleep timing so that you can have an ideal immune response.
Melatonin is considered to be safe but for short-term use. However, some safety concerns can be with individuals taking specific medications or those with certain pre-existing conditions. It’s advisable to ask your personal doctor first before using any melatonin supplement. Individuals that should avoid melatonin supplements include the following:
- People with liver problems or those on dialysis
- Pregnant and breastfeeding individuals
- Older people with dementia
- People with immune issues
- Individuals experiencing depression
Can Melatonin Make Depression Worse?
Melatonin can worsen depression symptoms in some individuals affecting their mood. Since it’s used for sleep, it brings levels of energy down. And according to scientific research, low levels of energy can contribute to depression feelings affecting mood. Lowering the mood of an individual than what the body is used to can result in a depressive state.
Some experts have proven that increasing Vitamin D intake can help combat melatonin-negative effects. The most natural, affordable, and easiest way to boost your intake of Vitamin D is to expose the body safely to natural sunlight. Enhancing your Vitamin D intake can almost immediately enhance your mood and refute any negative effects that you may have after taking a melatonin supplement.
Another proven way to enhance your mood is to limit the melatonin amount you’re taking. Using a melatonin supplement each day isn’t recommended, and if you realize that it’s changing your mood too much, you can look for other suitable alternatives after having a discussion with your therapist.
