Sleep & DST
Much of the Northern Hemisphere is about to undergo its biannual sleep disruption. This Sunday in North America, later this month in other parts, we’ll lose an hour of sleep. An already slumber-deprived populace is subjected to this every spring—Daylight Savings Time (DST). Why?
Many reasons are put forth—but frankly, I chalk it up to, “we do it because we’ve always done it”.
Long Johns
Uncle Jack
I remember my Uncle Jack from my days as a young lad. He lived in Toronto but made the trek out west to visit my grandparents every summer. Having a July birthday, I was the proud recipient of a shiny quarter every year on my big day. Courtesy of Uncle Jack.
Now Uncle Jack was a creature of habit, so I’m told. One of his rituals was marked by the calendar the first of July. Off would come his long underwear and on went the shorties. Yup. Didn’t matter if the mercury registered 92° F (32° C) in June. If it weren’t Dominion Day (the former Canada Day), he wouldn’t take ’em off.
DST is like my Uncle Jack’s long undies. Sticking to a tradition that no longer makes sense—if it ever really did. In fact, we pay a price for our DST ritual, much like my dear old uncle must have when clad in his long johns during a heat wave.
DST & Sleep Deprivation
Today a large percentage of the population across all countries in the developing world are sleep deprived. We go to bed too late, wake up too early, and often don’t get quality, restful sleep in between.
Alcohol. Caffeine. Stress. Blue light from computers and TVs. Poor sleep habits. All these combine to affect the length and quality of sleep we get every day.
Sure, what’s another day with an hour lost sleep. How can DST be so bad?
In the Northern Hemisphere, the switch to daylight savings time in March results in most people losing an hour of sleep opportunity. Should you tabulate millions of daily hospital records, as researchers have done, you discover that this seemingly trivial sleep reduction comes with a frightening spike in heart attacks the following day.
It’s bad enough we self-sabotage our own sleep throughout the year. But to mess with our circadian rhythm twice a year? All because it’s the way it’s always been?
Saskatchewan and Yukon in Canada. Hawaii and Arizona in the US. Three territories in Australia. All smart enough to do away with DST. When will the rest take the plunge and give us back our precious hour of sleep every March?
Just like there aren’t many Uncle Jack’s left today clad in long johns in June, it’s time to abandon DST and let the priority of our sleep prevail.
How about you? Would you like to see DST stay or go?
