​DST can throw off our internal clocks for many of us and cause sleep problems for at least the first week after the changeover. The time change affects both adults and children, with studies finding lower science scores in the first week after DST compared to the previous week. For adults, daylight saving time is most often associated with sleep disturbances, but studies also show a slightly increased risk of acute myocardial infarction in the first week after the time change.

Hotnews.ro talked to Florina Anichitoae, a clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and doctoral student in psychology, about the effects of daylight saving time and how we can survive this period more easily.

Why does time change affect us?

Each person has an internal circadian rhythm, or, in other words, an internal clock that aligns with the external time and is affected by the change of time, namely spring and autumn, says the psychologist. However, daylight saving time seems to have the biggest negative effects as it turns the clocks back an hour, which means less sleep. The circadian rhythm or internal clock regulates functions such as sleep and wakefulness, meal timing, the endocrine system, cell division, blood pressure, immunity, and more.

Although the effects of the time change are often compared to the changes that occur when we travel to other regions of the world where the clocks are one hour different from where we live, it seems that the resynchronization of our bodies in these two situations is different.

The clinical effects of the time change appear on a continuum, the ends of which begin with the feeling of the absence of any effect in some of us and go to the level of feeling discomfort, which can sometimes persist until the next time change in the case of others, says Florina Anihitoae.

There are studies in the literature that consider the extent to which people are affected by the change in time. It has been shown that there is a significant increase in sleep latency, which can take the form of difficulty adjusting to the new sleep time and the constancy of the internal clock, which remains set to the time until the change. In addition, people who suffer from jet lag experience increased fatigue and sleepiness during the day. Those with poor sleep quality or regular shorter sleep durations are most at risk of experiencing the effects of jet lag. It was also noted that some people needed at least a week to adapt to the new time. There is a cumulative effect of sleep loss, both in falling asleep at night and waking up in the morning, which is gradually corrected after nine o’clock.

Florina Anichitoae, clinical psychologist, psychotherapist and doctoral candidate in psychology / Photo: Personal archive

The effects are most noticeable in the first week

There are studies that have looked at the extent to which the change in time affects the number of traffic accidents due to the fatigue experienced during this period. Although there are also studies that have found no connection, some studies have shown that the number of traffic accidents increased by 10% during the first week after the time change. Other studies have shown a higher incidence even 14 days after the time change, especially in the afternoon.

Some studies also show that on the first Monday after the time change, people tend to visit sites with more entertainment content during work hours, and this is because reduced sleep affects emotional regulation processes, especially those involved in inhibition counterproductive or procrastinating behavior.

The study, which summarized the results of all existing studies of the risk of acute myocardial infarction in the literature and included more than 100,000 people, found a slightly increased but significant risk of developing an acute myocardial infarction during the first week after the time change (the number of heart attacks was about 5% higher), and no difference was found between women and men.

For children, it was observed that the exact science results were lower the week after the time change compared to the results obtained the week before.

Tips on how to cope with time changes more easily

There are several recommendations for better adaptation to the changes that occur in the body through the change of time, says psychologist Florina Anichitoae:

• It is recommended to get enough sleep in the week before the change to the new time, which can help with the next change.

• Try to go to bed earlier in the first week after the new time.

• Limiting the use of blue light screens before bedtime, so that their influence does not affect the addition of changes already due to the nine o’clock shift.

• Limiting mental activity and vigorous exercise before bed to allow the body to prepare for sleep by integrating the new changes.

Photo: Dreamstime.com, personal archive of Florina Anichitoae.