Depression and daily temperature. A long-term study.

In a long-term observation of a manic-depressive female patient, three depressive episodes and two intervals without complaints were studied. During this period, the oral temperature was measured every 3 h. The temperature values were compared with a self-rating scale of the patient. The oral temperature showed a different pattern on the depressive days as compared with the interval days. The average temperature values were higher on depressive days. During the depression, changes were found in the daily temperature rhythm which resulted in a temperature maximum earlier in the day. The changes can be explained as indicating a desynchronization phenomenon of the circadian rhythms.