Is The Time Change Bad for our Health? It’s this Weekend!

Oh boy, here we go again, time change. It's this weekend when we "spring ahead" and move our clocks ahead one hour. We will stay there, daylight savings time, until November 6. Yes, more daylight at the end of the day, but darker later in the morning.

We can blame Thunder Bay, Canada for all of this. It was 1908 when they decided to move their clocks forward as a way to preserve daylight hours in the winter months up there. But, I think by now we're all pretty fed up with moving our clocks back and forth. For the love of God, let's stop the madness!

So much has been written about Daylight Saving Time (DST), but it really can mess with our body clock and be bad for our health. The website Time and Date say that realistically though, changing the clocks does not create extra daylight, it just shifts it. So, prepare to be tired Sunday morning and all next week probably because our body clocks will be out of whack.

And more good news, the risk of having a heart attack increases in the first three weekdays after switching to DST in the spring. More traffic accidents happen, accidents at work increase as well.

Had enough? Nope, because in November when we "fall back" and move our clocks back an hour, it can trigger mental illness, including bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), the Winter Blues! And, suicide rates go up with the change. Good grief!

Is there anything we can do? Well, yes. Tomorrow and Saturday try waking up a little earlier so it may help make it easier to get out of bed on Monday morning.

Also, eat a healthy breakfast first thing in the morning. Food tells your body it is the start of the day.

Doctors say go for a walk in the light. Sunlight and exercise adjust the body clock.

The good news is that it will pass and we will get through this together. Come on, we're coming out of the long black hole of COVID, so what's the big whoop of losing an hour of sleep!