No, not menopause. The time change that comes with daylight savings time. I know I'm a little late talking about this, but here it is 5 days after "falling back" and I'm still feeling the effects of it. I've noticed in the past three years or so that this simple one hour change in time has a real effect me. It's not quite so bad in the fall as it is the spring, but it definitely takes a few days to adjust. I don't ever remember this being a problem when I was younger. Of course I lived in AZ from 1987-2001 and didn't have to worry about this for those years. AZ is one of the few states that doesn't participate in daylight savings time. As much as I didn't love living in AZ, that is one thing that I did appreciate about living in the desert. No need to save daylight in a place with daily summer temperatures over 110 degrees.
Earlier this week I read an interesting opinion piece written by William F. Shughart II about daylight savings time that discusses the effect of this time change on the hypothalamus, which regulates our circadian rhythms (our "clock"). According to Shughart, the hypothalamus has to struggle to "adjust the body's internal physical, chemical, electrical, hormonal and immunological environments to the new conditions". Most of us just feel groggy for a few days, but apparently this can actually lead to heart attacks in some people. WHAT?! Up until now, I've just been annoyed by this silly time change. But now knowing that this can actually effect people in real and serious ways, I think maybe it's more than just an annoyance. When I was younger I felt no effects, now I feel groggy. Will I have a heart attack 10 years from now? Who knows? And since it's been proven that there are no energy-conservation advantages to daylight savings time (the reason it was started in the first place), I think it's time to seriously consider eliminating it. What do you all think? Did any of you have trouble adjusting? Do any of you know of a reason why we should keep daylight savings time? I'd love to hear from you.
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