We owe the insanity of unnatural time changes to the Germans during WW II to try and conserve electricity. Britain followed soon thereafter. After the national repeal in 1919, some states and cities, including New York City and Chicago, continued to shift their clocks. National daylight saving time returned during World War II, but after its repeal three weeks after war’s end the confusing hodgepodge resumed. States and localities could start and end daylight saving whenever they pleased, a system that Time magazine (an aptly named source) described in 1963 as “a chaos of clocks.” In 1965 there were 23 different pairs of start and end dates in Iowa alone, and St. Paul, Minnesota, even began daylight saving two weeks before its twin city, Minneapolis. Passengers on a 35-mile bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio, to Moundsville, West Virginia, passed through seven time changes. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was passed which standardized daylight saving time from
the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October, although states had the option of remaining on standard time year-round.
All of the above ridiculousness and uncertainty proves the fact that we do not need nor do we benefit from Daylight Saving Time. "Springing Forward" has actually been proven to damage peoples health.
More Heart Attacks
Being tired can decrease productivity, concentration, and general well-being. Studies have found that setting the clocks forward for spring increases the risk of heart attacks, road accidents, and sleep problems:
- A Swedish study in 2008 found that the risk of having a heart attack increases in the first three days after switching to DST in the spring.
- Traffic accidents increase on the Monday following the start of DST. Tired drivers are the main reason.
Depression Trigger
Losing 1 hour of afternoon daylight after setting the clocks back to standard time can trigger seasonal depressions like Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or winter depression. A Danish study found an 11% increase in depression cases during after the seasonal change. The cases dissipated gradually after 10 weeks.
However, when it comes to car crashes and DST, there were less accidents after switching back to standard time, probably due to another hour sleep.
Disrupts the Body Clock
- It can feel a little harder to get out of bed on Monday morning after springing forward 1 hour on the Sunday morning.
- It may be difficult to get to bed at the normal time on Sunday night after the start of DST.
- Children may feel tired and cranky for several days after an hour's change in their bedtime routines.
Daylight Saving Time needs to be done away for the health and prosperity of the nation. It is useless, harmful and downright annoying. No one enjoys "Springing Forward" and there is no benefit derived from it. We must end this chaos of clocks foisted on us by the German war machine and rely only upon our natural bio-rythym to tell us what time it really is.
