Ditching Daylight Savings

As I woke up Monday morning this past week I felt more sluggish than usual. I wondered why as I went to bed at my normal time and woke up at the same time I do every day. However this morning I was rising as the sun was rising next to me. I forgot about daylight savings.

I have never really understood the purpose of daylight savings, I just go along with everyone else and turn my clock back in the fall and forward in the spring. However, it seems like every year as of recently whenever we change the clocks there is always a push being made to get rid of daylight savings altogether. Why is this?

Mental health.

Mental health and the effects daylight savings has on issues like depression and anxiety are some of the driving factors for lawmakers pushing to end daylight savings.

Seasonal depression is something that is very real. It is something that I have seen multiple friends and family members have to suffer through every year. My friends and family just a small proportion of a much larger statistic. According to Psychology Today, “seasonal affective disorder is estimated to affect 10 million Americans”. So if daylight savings is contributing to seasonal affective disorder in such large numbers in the United States alone then why have the efforts to reverse it been sluggish?

Change is something that is complicated and scary. Terms of getting the entire planet or even just an entire country on one particular time system is more complicated than it seems. Some states such as Arizona and Hawaii have already abandoned daylight savings time but the rest of the country has yet to make any such moves.

This past month Massachusetts senator, Ed Markey and a group of legislators introduced a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent.

However for now it looks like daylight savings is here to stay. So what are ways in which you can help to combat seasonal affective disorder? Here is a list of a few ways experts recommend:

1. Light therapy/ taking a walk in the sun: light is a major factor in how people are affected by daylight savings and changing seasons.

2. Ask for help

3. Don’t go on the phone or use blue light before bed

4. Set a sleep schedule

As times change and the stigma around mental health conversations slowly subsides, progressive lawmakers are starting to make the step forward to get rid of this archaic system altogether. Getting rid of daylight savings time will have dramatic benefits on society as a whole and make people happier and healthier. It seems like a no-brainer to me to get rid of daylight savings once and for all.