I love the first day of Spring for many reasons—for example,
Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year—but I love the second day of
the season even more. On the second day of Spring there are finally more
minutes of light than of darkness after the long, dark winter months. What I
call “the Dark of the Year” is over.
As a person who suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder
(SAD) or Seasonal Depression, the more minutes and hours of daylight, the
better I feel. Until the days get long enough to remedy my symptoms of increased
pain, irritability and sadness; brain fog; a lack of energy and motivation; and
a decreased ability to cope with stress, every morning I sit in front of what I
call my ‘Happy Light’.
This lamp produces a special bright light that mimics
sunlight. I sit in this artificial sunlight for ten to thirty minutes,
depending on how short the days are. The bright light stimulates my body to produce the
hormones and neurochemicals I need to function more-or-less normally.
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| NATURE BRIGHT LAMP |
That being said, I dread the change from Standard Time to
Daylight Savings Time in Spring and the second one back to Standard Time in
Fall. If it were up to me (which of course it isn’t), we would remain on
Daylight Savings Time all year. I can cope with darkness in the mornings much
better than I can cope with an early sunset. (In fact, for many people, being
awake at sunrise helps to mitigate SAD). I have a bad couple of weeks after
these time changes.
Research has shown that a lot of energy is saved when we are
on Daylight Savings Time. Unfortunately research has also shown that adapting
to getting up an hour earlier during the changeover from Standard Time is very hard
on us poor humans both physically and mentally. For example, there are more
auto accidents in the two weeks after the Spring time change than during any
other two-week period during the year. (This year we almost lost a close
relative in one of those accidents when he nodded off at the wheel.)
According to the Fox News article Seven
Ways Daylight Saving Time Can Affect Your Health, rates of strokes and
cluster headaches increase around the changeovers in both Spring and Fall.
People report being very fatigued during after the Spring changeover and
productivity is decreased.
I say let’s save energy all year round and forgo the
stressful changeover periods! We humans created the artificial constructs of Standard
Time and Daylight Saving Time. We can choose to remain in Daylight Saving Time
all year round.
Do the time changeovers cause problems for you or someone
you know? ~ Sarah Raplee
