Circadian Misalignment and Forms of Jetlag

« Back to Glossary Index

Circadian misalignment occurs when our body’s internal clocks fall out of sync with the world around us. Like a fleet of airplanes trying to land on a single runway at the same time — without perfect coordination, the system breaks down. From literal to metaphorical, jetlag is a useful term, used by researchers and clinicians, to describe circadian misalignment: 

• Actual jetlag is the temporary disorientation that’s caused by traveling rapidly across time zones. Our body thinks it’s 2 am (time to sleep), but the sun is up and the world is moving at 10 am, causing a total system clash.
• Social jetlag happens when our work/school schedules force us to live against our biological clock. A night owl — forced to wake up at 6 am on weekdays for work, but who sleeps until noon on weekends — experiences a constant tug-of-war between biological needs and social responsibilities.
• Shift work is a more extreme form of misalignment where our job requires us to be active when our body is programmed for sleep. In bipolar disorder, shift work is a major stressor because it forces the body to constantly “reset” its internal clock, which can trigger mood instability.
• Metabolic jetlag: This is the internal chaos that happens when our energy systems — like hunger, digestion, and mitochondria — stop following a 24-hour schedule. In conditions like major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder, this can lead to surges or brownouts of energy that aren’t tied to what we’re actually doing during the day.