Daylight Saving time change has many feeling a little off

If you’re feeling a little off after springing forward this weekend, you’re not alone.

Many experts say it may even take some people a few days to start feeling more like themselves after the time change to Daylight Saving Sunday morning.

Some studies have shown increase numbers of car crashes, workplace injuries, and even heart attacks after switching to Daylight Saving Time. The Monday after the time change is usually when decreased work productivity and performance is seen.

The Canadian Sleep Society is among the groups recommending provinces stop the practice of Daylight Saving Time. It says the federal government should hold “hearings on the pros and cons of DST to help in negotiations with US legislatures currently having the same debates.”

“What Daylight Saving Time does for us is it reduces our possibility for sleeping in in the morning and exposes ourselves to light in the evening, which, in fact, is what we don’t want. We want to be exposed to light as early as possible in the morning and hiding from the light in the evening,” said Dr. Jonathan Charest, a psychologist with the Canadian Sleep Society.

He says we need light to improve our mood.

“If you hide from the sunlight, if you hide inside a cave, you will have a depressive effect. Ultimately, that Daylight Saving Time practice is detrimental on your your productivity, your mood, your emotions, on everything.”

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, sleep experts recommend moving to “permanent standard time for overall health and safety.”

The group, which represents thousands of members, notes the switch to Daylight Saving Time is associated not just with an increase in crashes but also more missed medical appointments, a higher risk of stroke and hospital admissions, an increased risk of mood disturbances, and disruptions to the body’s internal clock, which leads to impaired sleep quality and, in turn, sleep loss.

Related article: Daylight Saving Time 2022: Clocks change on Sunday

The B.C. government has passed a law to end the practice of time change in the province, but it won’t be enacted until Washington, Oregon, and California do the same.

Only Yukon and most of Saskatchewan observe permanent daylight time and did not change their clocks with the rest of the country at 2 a.m. local Sunday.

Time change has been a popular topic for B.C. Premier John Horgan, who’s been pushing for an end to the practice since he took office.

B.C. will return to standard time on Nov. 6.