Is Daylight Saving Time Bad For You? 333
Hugh Pickens writes "According to experts on circadian rhythms, the hour shift in sleep schedule from Daylight Saving Time can have serious effects on some people's health, particularly in people with certain pre-existing health problems. One study found that men were more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving Time (DST) than at any other time during the year, and another study showed that the number of serious heart attacks jumps 6% to 10% on the first three workdays after DST begins. Dr. Xiaoyong Yang, an assistant professor of comparative medicine and cellular and molecular physiology at Yale University, theorizes that shifts in biologic rhythms could trigger harmful inflammatory or metabolic changes at the cellular level, to which these individuals may be more susceptible."
Yep (Score:2, Interesting)
It may not seem like much, but even shifting things by a single hour and put me (and people like me) a very difficult spot. Light boxes and sunrise simulator alarm clocks help, but what helps the most is strict consistency in sleep/wake times. This is especially harmful to people with bipolar disorder because it can trigger a manic or depressive episode.
DST sucks!
Average? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:People who travel? (Score:4, Interesting)
DST is something that's imposed by the government and cannot easily be avoided if you're in an area that observes it.
You could always move. Arizona doesn't observe DST.
Some people move to dry or warm climates for reasons related to health. This isn't really that much different.
Hi (Score:5, Interesting)
My name is BMO and I live in Rhode Island. We here in the Northeast US are far enough east that during the winter, we go to work in the dark and we come home in the dark. Unless you have windows in your office or stock room or machine shop, or whatever, you never see the sun except on weekends. It's like being divorced and having partial custody - of sunlight.
The Eastern time zone is so wide that it stretches all the way to the Eastern border of Illinois. This is just nuts. When DST finally shows up in March, suddenly the sun sets at a reasonable hour.
New England and NY should secede from the Union and join the Maritime Provinces simply to get a sane time zone.
I'm sorry for ranting, but I'm tired of my Seasonal Affective Disorder and I can't wait for DST to get here. See? My SAD is showing!
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BMO
Re:Lengthening the Blanket... (Score:5, Interesting)
The only thing "daylight savings time" does is force, by government decree, that EVERYBODY must do this at the SAME time, in lockstep.
Re:People who travel? (Score:4, Interesting)
So get up an hour earlier during winter rather than an hour later during summer, and you won't have to come in late or have your circadian rhythms disrupted.
Re:The problem is psychological, not physiological (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that it's all backwards.
In the spring, we should be moving the clocks *back* an hour. That way, it would actually be dark outside before midnight in the summer, allowing us to actually sleep in *darkness*.
Then, in the fall, we should be moving the clocks *ahead* an hour, so that it's actually light outside when we wake up, and it's *still* light outside when we are done work, giving us more "after work daylight".
The current "daylight savings rules" are completely bass-ackwards!