Many people might be feeling groggy this morning waking up an hour earlier than they normally would thanks to Daylight Savings Time.
Mount Allison University associate professor of psychology Genevieve Desmarais says there is little to no advantage to the time change.
She says apart from feeling tired, there are increases in the reporting of depression and even heart attacks in the week following the time change.
“So even though it’s quite nice to have that extra time, what happens to our body, and society in general, there’s also a drop in productivity in the entire week that follows the time switch,” says Desmarais.
Desmarais says with an overwhelming body of evidence showing the time change is unhealthy, it’s baffling why the powers-that-be keep it in place.
She wants the government to investigate the impact of the time change on people and society.
“We’ve got a government that focuses on the middle class and improving the conditions of the middle class, and this is certainly not something that does that,” says Desmarais. “In terms of encouraging people’s health and encouraging businesses to grow it doesn’t help at all.”
Moving the clocks forward an hour this weekend means an increase in tiredness, depression, and even heart attacks.
