Daylight savings needs to simply go away. What good does it do for us anyway? It actually does more harm than good to us by messing with our circadian rhythm, which harms our mental, physical and behavioral health.
On March 15, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent starting the year 2023. Now the Sunshine Protection Act just needs to pass through the House of Representatives and President Biden in order to be official.
With the impending change, the sun will be out later year round, like it is during the summertime. This is significant because it is said to help reduce seasonal depression. This could also help children have more time to play outside after school, rather than staying inside on their technological devices because it’s dark by 5 p.m.
When we wake up in the morning, it won’t be dark outside anymore, which can help people start off their days in a positive manner. Plus, kids would not have to go to school when it is still dark outside. Longer exposure to sunlight has benefits like reducing stress, fighting off depression, strengthening the immune system and more.
Daylight savings time occurs twice per year, before the winter season and spring season. We just recently had daylight savings move forward in time, so we essentially lost an hour of that day.
This harms our circadian rhythm. According to Healthline, our circadian rhythm plays a critical role in regulating our sleep cycles and is influenced by the amount of light and darkness we experience. Our circadian rhythms are like our personal internal clocks and let us know when we should sleep or stay awake. Why do you think people struggle so much when they fly over multiple time zones?
Studies have shown with daylight savings time shift, there’s a spike in heart attacks, suicides, car accidents and work-related injuries. Sure it’s nice when the winter time changes and we gain an hour in the day, but it throws off our whole cycle and it takes multiple weeks for our bodies to readjust.
Time is a made up concept, so why don’t we use it to benefit ourselves, rather than hurting ourselves.
