If you're reading this, you probably lost an hour of sleep this past weekend and are, no doubt, suffering the effects of it. You might feel groggy and irritable this week and, if you're like me, wake up wondering what time it really is. On the other hand, it's nice to actually get to walk outside in the evenings and enjoy some of the lingering daylight.
But love it or hate it, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is not good for your health.
"That one-hour change may not seem like much, but it can wreak havoc on people's mental and physical well-being in the short term," according to Dr. Charles Czeisler, a professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Here's more from Harvard Health:
Circadian rhythms largely depend on light exposure. The hour transition in the spring initially causes darker mornings and lighter evenings. Less morning light can decrease levels of the mood-boosting hormone serotonin. In contrast, exposure to light later in the evening can delay the production of melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep.
Many people also have trouble adjusting their sleep schedule to the new time. For the first few days or even a week, they may go to bed later or wake up earlier than usual, which can cause sleep deprivation. One study found that the average person gets 40 minutes less sleep on the Monday after DST begins compared with other nights of the year.
An hour or even 40 minutes may not seem like much, but it can actually be detrimental. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health says that changing the clock in March can lead to an increase in heart attacks and strokes. In the days that follow our annual "spring forward," hospital admissions go up, and our bodies show elevated inflammatory markers as a response to stress. People are more likely to miss important medical appointments. Studies have even shown that the risk for fatal car accidents increases 6%. The number of suicides also tends to increase after the clocks change.
DST can be especially tough on certain groups, like those living on the western edge of the time zones, shift workers, and people who have to drive to work very early. It's also tough on adolescents, often leading to behavioral, learning, and attention issues. Schools report that students are sleeplier during the days after the time change, and they have slow reaction times. Employers report that workers miss days completely.
While most people adjust to time changes within a few weeks, they can still have long-term effects. According to Northwestern Health, it increases the risk for depression, weight gain, slowed metabolism, and cluster headaches.
So, why in the heck do we do it?
While the concept of daylight savings time has deep historical roots, in the United States, the federal government first acknowledged it in 1918. Congress passed the Standard Time Act on March 15 of that year, and President Woodrow Wilson signed into law four days later. On March 31, it went into effect, and we've suffered ever since. The reasoning behind it was that the government thought that adding more sunlight to the day would save fuel costs during World War I.
After the war, the law was no longer needed, but many individual states kept it up. And, in 1966, Congress passed legislation that would permanently override local habits.
I personally enjoy having more light during the evenings, but I'm also self-employed and don't have to be up at any certain time most days. But I think there's something to be said for keeping the same time year-round. I know that when I spend time in other countries that base their way of life on the sun rather than some manufactured political timing, I actually feel a lot better.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine offers some ways to combat the change's impact on your body, like gradually shifting your sleep time 15 minutes here and there in the days leading up to the time change and making sure you get some early morning sun on the Sunday morning after.
Tenet Health says make sure you still get seven to nine hours sleep every night, even if you have to adjust your schedule. It also recommends getting enough sunlight during the day, avoiding eating or exercising late, and creating a sleep environment that is conducive to sleep. The older I get, the more I realize that's something that's important all year long anyway. You can pry my cold, dark bedroom from my cold, dead hands.
There have been many debates over whether to kill DST or make it permanent over the years, but for now, we're stuck with this government-imposed biannual time change.
Leave it to politicians to think they can control time and light.
So, what say you? Keep things as is? Get rid of DST? Make it permanent? Let us know in the comments.
