When we turned our clocks back an hour this weekend, ending daylight savings time, it meant two things:
- We got an extra hour’s sleep, in theory;
- We have to adjust to the outside light during morning and evening commutes.
Here’s something you may not realize: Sleep doctors say changing the clocks back and forth twice a year can have serious health implications.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advocates that we permanently stay on standard time, because it is more in line with a person’s natural bio-rhymes and produces less negative health outcomes.
And before you say, why don’t we stay on daylight savings time — providing more sunlight during the spring and summer? They have a response.
Dr. Adrian Pristas, the director of sleep medicine at Hackensack Meridian Health, explains.
“Our circadian rhythm is designed to be exposed to bright light when we get up in the morning, and it’s supposed to start getting darker in the evening, causing dim light melatonin secretion, which for most people starts around 7 p.m.,” he said.
“If we have too much bright light in the evening, our body won’t produce the melatonin it needs to fall asleep in a timely manner.”
Studies show daylight saving time typically causes a spike in cardiac incidents, atrial fibrillation, car accidents in adults as our bodies have a hard time adjusting to the change of the clocks, even by the one hour. But the switch to standard time can have an impact on shift workers who end up working a longer day, when the clock turns back.
But not everything about daylight savings time is bad.
In fact, while the transition to standard time is believed to be more healthy for a person’s cardiac health, it can have a detrimental impact on a person’s mental health. A study found the sudden switch to standard time causes an 11% increase in depression time of year.
According to Dr. Thomas Priolo, the medical director of child and adolescent consult-liaison psychiatry at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, the change of time during daylight savings time in the fall may have different mental health effects on different people. Many will have minimal disruption to their daily lives while others may experience more clinically significant impacts.
“Some of the possible negative effects include disrupted sleep patterns due to losing one hour of sleep leading to short-term sleep deprivation, fatigue, and changes in concentration and productivity levels,” he said.
“Coinciding with the change in time we also see an increase in incidence of depression, likely related to the reduction in sunlight. We also see an increase in anxiety secondary to the loss of the hour.”
Daylight savings time is generally considered the time of year when seasonal affective disorder also increases in symptom severity, lasting through the days of winter, he said.
With seasonal affective disorder, doctors will see patients have depressed mood, low energy, decreased motivation which is an episodic mood disorder lasting throughout the winter months generally improving when spring starts – and daylight hours start to increase again.
The doctors say there are different ways to cope with these negative mental health effects of daylight savings time.
- Gradually adjust your sleep schedule in the days prior to time change so your body is used to this sudden change;
- Increase exposure to sunlight in the morning hours, which can help regulate your circadian rhythm and support a healthy mood;
- If needed, use an artificial sunlight lamp, which often can be found for less than $20 and are best used for 30 minutes after waking in the morning.
- Keep a healthy sleep schedule, with evidence to support having 1 hour or less of variation in sleep and wake time each day.
Of course, if your mood continues to worsen and the above coping strategies are ineffective, the doctors suggest seeking professional help everything from short-term therapy to medication management.
