Get ready to turn your clocks back one hour this Sunday (Nov. 7) for Daylight Saving Time.
This fall we gain an hour and in the spring we’ll turn clocks forward and lose an hour. The adjustment may seem minor, but experts have said it can be major.
“It’s so depressing when it gets darker earlier. You just want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep,” a person said.
Dr. Robert Chervin runs the University of Michigan Health Sleep Disorders Center and is a professor of neurology. Chervin said sleep isn’t a bad thing.
“I think all too often we think it’s the spongy thing in our lives that can always be compressed because we have other things to do, but the lack of sleep is very dangerous,” Chervin said. “I would suspect that if we didn’t switch back and forth we would save some of those unnecessary heart attacks and other health consequences. Another issue is motor vehicle crashes, which also increase after the transition. Especially in the spring.”
The big question is: Do we need it? And do we even want to continue this cycle every year?
Local 4 asked people and some said we should just pick one time and stick with it.
Chervin said a lot of people use Sunday to stay up later, but he suggested going to sleep at your normal time -- even if it’s an hour early. It will help you adjust in the long run.
Another suggestion is to get sunlight, or any bright light as soon as you wake up. He said that will help cement an internal routine and help create good sleep hygiene.