Time Change Debate: A Health Issue?
I have not posted much on Indiana’s tedious move to daylight savings time, leaving the matter for Doug Masson, over at Masson’s Blog. But Doug has a piece up today that demands attention. As part of the public comment process, a professor from the University of Washington School of Medicine notes that Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is more common on the western boundary of the eastern time zone.
Apparently, increased exposure to early morning sunlight plays a significant role in reducing SAD, at least according to this researcher. I cannot contest the guy’s conclusion, not having seen the research, but on its face, it seems a little silly to me. Regardless of whether you call it 7AM or 8AM, the is out in the sky for the same amount of time each day.
I guess I do not see what the time debate is all about:
About 10 to 20% of the people in northern latitudes in the US have either SAD or subsyndromal SAD. It is well known that the prevalence of these disorders increase with latitude. Recently, we found that those living on the western edge of Eastern Time Zone are significantly more likely to have SAD symptoms than those living on the eastern edge of the time zone. The best explanation of this finding is that the sun is rising much later on the western edge of the time zone compared to the eastern edge and those on the western edge are getting less morning lig
October 28th, 2005 13:53
“Regardless of whether you call it 7AM or 8AM, the is out in the sky for the same amount of time each day.”
I definitely agree. That’s why Daylight Saving Time itself is silly. But, if you take DST proponents arguments at face value that peoples’ schedules are irrevocably chained to the numbers that appear on their clocks, then they are getting less sunlight in the morning in favor of more sunlight in the late afternoon or evening. And, if the Professor’s assertions are accurate, for those who suffer from SAD, sunlight in the morning is more useful in preventing depression than sunlight in the evening.
October 28th, 2005 15:19
I guess we are true “creatures of habit.”
I am probably biased on this issue (SAD, and DLS in general). From the fall (right about now) clear through until the mid-spring, it’s dark when I leave the home in the morning and dark when I get home in the evening. Regardless of which way you shift the clock, this is going to be the case.
The prospect of that “extra hour or daylight” I would “get” under central time in the winter (shining through my office window) doesn’t cheer me up very much.