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Circadian Rhythm Disturbances in Affective Disorders: Facts and Fictions

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New Directions in Affective Disorders

Abstract

The cycling nature of affective disorders has put these psychopathological conditions into the focus of medical chronobiology. However, our knowledge is still rather limited in this respect, and too often casual observations and theoretical speculations are accepted as proving profound disturbances of biological (above all, circadian) rhythms in these disorders. It is our intention to evaluate critically the present state of knowledge in this field in order to disentangle proved facts from mere fictions. Particular reference is made to carefully designed observations of affectively ill patients in a time-cue-free environment, as they provide the only solid basis for conclusions regarding the endogenous component of biological rhythms. Only those hypotheses are discussed that have drawn most attention in chronobiological research to affective disorders.

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Authors
  1. D. von Zerssen
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  2. G. Dirlich
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  3. J. Zulley
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jerusalem Mental Health Center-Ezrath Nashim, 91001, Jerusalem, Israel

    Bernard Lerer M.D. (Director of Research, Associate Professor) (Director of Research, Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Hebrew University, 91001, Jerusalem, Israel

    Bernard Lerer M.D. (Director of Research, Associate Professor) (Director of Research, Associate Professor)

  3. University of Pittsburgh, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Samuel Gershon M.D. (Vice President for Research in the Medical and Health Care Division; Associate Vice President for Research in the Health Sciences, Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Research Director for Neurosciences) (Vice President for Research in the Medical and Health Care Division; Associate Vice President for Research in the Health Sciences, Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Research Director for Neurosciences)

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Samuel Gershon M.D. (Vice President for Research in the Medical and Health Care Division; Associate Vice President for Research in the Health Sciences, Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Research Director for Neurosciences) (Vice President for Research in the Medical and Health Care Division; Associate Vice President for Research in the Health Sciences, Professor of Psychiatry, Associate Research Director for Neurosciences)

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© 1989 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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von Zerssen, D., Dirlich, G., Zulley, J. (1989). Circadian Rhythm Disturbances in Affective Disorders: Facts and Fictions. In: Lerer, B., Gershon, S. (eds) New Directions in Affective Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3524-8_54

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3524-8_54

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-96769-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3524-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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