If you live in the U.S., then you have to deal with the dreaded Daylight Savings Time. Whether Daylight Savings Time ends or begins, it’s a hassle for so many Americans. Remembering to change your clocks is only a tiny part of the problem. The worst part about these fall and spring changes is how dangerous they are to our health. Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Gilbert, AZ if you’ve been injured at work or on the road as a result of the dangerous situation.
You might not think adjusting an hour twice a year would be that big of a deal, especially if you live in Arizona where it doesn’t happen. But there’s a reason why Arizona lawmakers changed the rule: it’s dangerous to our health! There’s an observed increase in cluster headaches, heart attacks, and workplace/auto accidents. The time change appears to throw people off their game, wreaking havoc with their sleep patterns.
Clearly, less sleep and suddenly waking up at a different hour than you typically expect has a dramatic impact until we inevitably adjust to the time change. By the time we get our bearings, it’s time to change the clocks again, starting the cycle all over again. It’s important to continue to bring up this topic even though Arizona is one of the few states that don’t change their clocks.
That’s because many Arizonians work in neighboring states. Not only that, there are plenty of exhausted people who live in different states who come here for a variety of reasons, whether it be for work or play. This means we share the road and our workspace with people struggling to get through the day. So, even though you’re not personally impacted, you are around people who care and that can be dangerous.
This is actually an area of science that’s in dispute. Is it the varying levels of darkness or light that cause the problems? Or a lack of alertness due to lost sleep? Livescience.com actually reports that researchers can’t agree about this issue. Some say that there’s an increase in car accidents because it’s dark out already by the time many people get out of work. Others say it’s because they are exhausted after losing an hour of sleep.
It’s really a combination of all these things. Many people work certain hours that prevent them from being able to see the sun and blue sky at all. They go to work early enough that it’s dark and leave the factory and the sun had already gone down. This can lead to depression and other issues. The days are remarkably shorter in the winter, leading to a condition called Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Fast forward to Spring when the time is advanced one hour. This time change literally steals an hour of necessary sleep. The Journal of Applied Psychology actually did a study and found that workplace accidents rose 5.7% during the week after a “Spring Forward” time change. That’s not a huge jump, but should be enough evidence to prove that time changes do impact us in a big way.
Heart attacks also increase by about 5%. That’s because when one doesn’t get enough sleep, it causes additional stress on the body, which increases inflammation. Hormones might also be imbalanced, causing headaches and all sorts of chronic pain issues. This is why Daylight Savings Time changes can be so dangerous for our health.
The best way to help your body adjust for Daylight Savings Time is to start preparing at least a week early. Start going to bed earlier than normal. Try to get as much sunlight as possible by spending time outdoors. And if you or someone you love has been injured due to the stress caused by Daylight Savings Time.
To chat with one of our car accident attorneys in Gilbert AZ click this link: https://theazaccidentinjuryattorney.com/gilbert/
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