Daylight Savings: Useless and Outdated

An extra hour of sleep for one night may seem like a blessing, but the downsides that come with it are not worth that one hour of sleep. The practice of Daylight Savings Time (DST) has been used in the United States for over a hundred years, which is way too long for such an unbeneficial time system in my opinion. There have been recent attempts to break away from this system within the U.S. government, but none of them have succeeded. This is not enough because Daylight Savings Time is an outdated practice that should be forgotten since there are numerous negative effects.

The worst aspect of DST is that it does not even achieve its goals, which are to improve everyone’s sleep schedules and prevent motor vehicle accidents. DST fails at doing both of these things miserably, which causes several downsides. According to Adrianna Rodriguez from USA Today, A 2020 study, published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology, determined the risk of fatal traffic accidents increased  by 6% in the U.S. during the spring transition to daylight saving time. The fact that the risk of traffic accidents actually increased during the time switch in the spring reveals that DST does not prevent traffic accidents, it actually increases the likelihood of them. As for improving sleep schedules, that is not achieved either because the circadian rhythm that our bodies rely on for our sleep schedules is also disturbed by the changing of the time. According to Allison Chiu from the Washington Post, With daylight saving time, we are perpetually out of synchronization with our internal clocks and we often achieve less nighttime sleep, both circumstances having negative health impacts. Since sleep schedules are disrupted by the change in time, people get less good sleep because of it. If DST does not achieve any of its goals and actually does the opposite, then why is it still around? 

Not only does DST fail to accomplish any of the goals that it is supposed to, it is also associated with negative effects on mental and physical health. The worsened sleep that occurs because of the time switch during Daylight Savings Time is what causes this. According to Adrianna Rodriguez from USA Today, Sleep deficiency has been linked to an increased risk of depression, bipolar disorder, substance use disorder and suicide. These negative mental side effects that are caused by DST could have a severely damaging impact on a person’s life if they are affected by them. The mental health downsides are not the only issues that Daylight Savings Time causes. As Rodriguez continues to note, lack of sleep has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and stroke, experts say. A majority of the physical illnesses that are listed here are fatal, which shows how serious the impact of DST is. These downsides on mental and physical health that occurs because of DST highlight why this antique practice must go.

The Senate could have easily left Daylight Savings Time in the past if they voted to have the US run on standard time instead of DST. This would undo the unnecessarily confusing system of DST along with all of the downsides that come along with it. It is time for the United States to join other countries that are getting rid of Daylights Saving Time and forget this ancient system. 

Works Consulted

Chiu, Allyson. “Sleep Experts Say Senate Has It Wrong: Standard Time, Not Daylight Saving, Should Be Permanent.” The Washington Post, 16 March 2022, washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/03/16/daylight-saving-bill-health-effects/. Accessed 19 April 2022.

Rodriguez, Adrianna. “Daylight Saving Time Is ‘Not Helpful’ And Has ‘No Upsides,’ Experts Say.” USA Today, 1 Nov. 2021, usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/11/01/fall-back-daylight-saving-time-health-experts-want-you-know/6174156001/. Accessed 19 April 2022.