“Daylight saving time: Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.”
– Anonymous
It's time to “spring forward” and turn our clocks ahead one hour. Nearly everyone looks forward to “falling back” and claiming that extra hour of sleep in autumn. No extra hour of sleep or laid back acceptance with this time change – anxiety is the major feeling the spring change elicits. Just what are the consequences for Daylight Saving Time (DST) that begins Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 2:00 A.M.? You may be surprised.
Dr. Austin Lim, professor of neuroscience at DePaul University, sees the forced sleep deprivation and circadian rhythm disruption that comes with Daylight Saving Time as unnecessary. He believes “it's time to change this unhealthy practice.”
Lim reports that the sleep deprivation caused by this adjustment persists longer than just a day. During the week following the Sunday transition, people may experience a 30-minute decrease in sleep each night, even through the following Friday.
Lim says, “Collectively, the sleep deprivation brought on by the transition to daylight saving time has been associated with demonstrable physical harms. For example, the risk of experiencing a stroke or heart attack increases in days following the spring time change.”
(Hanxin Zhang et al. “Measurable health effects associated with the daylight saving time shift. PLoS Comput Biol. June 2020.)
Lim continues …
“Sleep deprivation also leads to performance deficits on reflex and attention tasks. These tiny lapses may manifest themselves in fatal traffic accidents in the five days following the transition to daylight saving time, when the risk of such a crash occurring increases by 6%. In the seven days following the spring DST transition, research also has found an 18.7% increase in patient safety-related incidents in health care settings that likely were due to human error.
“This time change additionally produces observable mental health consequences. Self-report research indicates lower life satisfaction and decreased mood resulting from the "summer" time change … some research even suggests that male suicide rates increase after the change to DST …
“In addition to sleep deprivation, a neurobiological phenomenon called circadian desynchronization likely contributes to worsening changes in physical and mental health following the time change. Through special communication channels starting in the eye, the brain changes activity based on the amount of light in the environment.
“The brain then communicates with the rest of the body using hormones. This chain reaction synchronizes various bodily functions with the surroundings, modifying such basic physiological functions as heart rate, digestion and body temperature.
“However, after pushing the clocks forward by an hour in the transition to daylight saving time, the change in daily light exposure causes a mismatch between the surroundings and a person's physiology. This leads to a desynchronization between the body's internal hormonal balance and the surroundings, resulting in a condition similar to jet lag or shift work disorder.”
(Austin Lim Ph.D. “The Dangers of Daylight Saving Time.” https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-03-12/the-dangers-of-daylight-saving-time U.S. News. March 12, 2021.)
Writing in JAMA Neurology, Professor Ann Malow at Vanderbilt University calls switching between standard and daylight saving time “bad for the brain. Going back and forth is disruptive and makes no sense.” Switching time isn’t like flying from Washington DC to Los Angeles. “It’s more like a permanent thing where for the next eight months you’re an hour off and suffer for it.”
(B.A. Malow, B.A., O.J. Veatch, and K. Bagai. “Are Daylight Saving Time Changes Bad for the Brain?” JAMA Neurology, 2020.)
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that 55 percent of American adults feel drained and inefficient during the week or more after switching to DST. Their advisory raises concern because your body knows what time it’s supposed to be, and when governments change it your health can suffer.
(“Daylight Saving Time Health Advisory.”The American Academy of Sleep Medicine Adopted by the AASM Board of Directors: March 3, 2016.)
The fall time change also has been associated with health-related consequences, despite the extra hour of sleep it offers.
No matter what you think about shifting to Daylight Saving Time, you should be aware of the possible effects the practice has on your body. You may not perceive any change, or you may – like many of us – feel considerable disruption. Groggy, tired? Be aware that small discomforts could lead to major accidents.
For your health and safety, here are some tips for dealing with the time change:
1. Make gradual shifts
Roughly ten days before falling back, go to bed and wake up 10 minutes to 15 minutes later each day. This helps your body slowly adjust. For kids, when daylight saving time ends in the fall, this gradual approach can still help -- follow the same guidelines -- just push the wake up time and bedtime a little later rather than earlier each day as you would do in the spring.
2. Keep your schedule
Try to manage your schedule accordingly. In autumn, keep things as close to normal as possible. If you usually wake at 8 a.m., do it the morning of the time change, if you can (although the clock says 9 a.m.). Be consistent with eating, social, bed and exercise times, too. Raising your body’s core temperature can make it harder to fall asleep, so avoid heavy workouts within four hours of bedtime.
3. Have a nighttime ritual
Bedtime routines aren’t just for kids. You don’t need to do things in a certain order, but you should make a habit of slowing your body down. Dim your lights. Take a warm – not hot – shower. Put your phone, computer or tablet away. Turn off the television and pick up a non-suspenseful book.When daylight saving ends, it's especially important to stick with a bedtime routine, as your child is now dealing with a change in schedule that might throw him off. For young children, it's absolutely critical that they have a routine during bedtime. That's what helps create a powerful signal for sleep. One option: giving your child one a warm bath, reading him a book, and snuggling together before lights out. Also, avoid screen time close to bedtime. Electronics’ high-intensity light hinders melatonin, a hormone that triggers sleepiness. It stimulates your brain and makes sleep difficult the same way sunlight does.
4. No long naps
Shutting your eyes mid-day is tempting, especially if you’re feeling sluggish. But it could backfire! Longer daytime naps could make it harder for you to get a full night’s sleep. The drive to sleep increases throughout the day. If you nap, the sleep pressure decreases and makes it harder to fall asleep at night. Instead, step into the sun to stimulate your body and help retrain your inner clock.
Use light to regulate your internal clock.
Light suppresses the secretion of the sleep-inducing substance melatonin. So it is important to expose yourself to the light during the waking hours as much as possible, and conversely, do not expose yourself to bright light when it is dark outside.
For example, if you get up at night to go to the bathroom, do not turn on the light. Prepare beforehand by installing a night light. Interestingly, specifically timed light therapy may either advance or delay your sleep cycle, depending on when it is delivered. For kids, when daylight saving time ends, the key is making sure your child doesn't go to bed too early or wake up earlier than she already does (what parent wants that?). So when you "fall back," make sure your child has some light exposure in the early evening and ensure that her room isn't too bright in the morning.
(“Adjusting to Daylight Savings Time.” https://www.medicalwesthospital.org/. Medical West. 2021.)
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