Is Daylight Saving Bad for You? ☀️

Is Daylight Saving Bad for You? ☀️

When the clocks go back in October, most of us celebrate that “extra hour” of sleep. It feels like a small gift - finally, a morning where you can wake up without rushing.

But does turning the clock back actually help our bodies rest, or does it throw us off?

Experts say the autumn time change is gentler than the one in spring, which steals an hour of sleep and has been linked to spikes in car accidents and even heart attacks. Still, it’s not entirely harmless.

That’s because the shift slightly disrupts our circadian rhythm: the internal 24-hour clock that controls when we feel sleepy, alert, and even how our mood swings through the day.

“There’s a circadian clock in every cell of the body,” says Timo Partonen, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Helsinki. “But the main one is in the brain, and it follows light and darkness. How well it works affects how well we sleep and how we feel.”

Still, since the autumn change gives us an extra hour rather than taking one away, most people adjust fairly easily. “Light in the morning is more important for our biology,” says Professor Malcolm von Schantz from Northumbria University. “That’s why the autumn shift usually feels less painful.”

That said, it’s common to feel small changes: a 2025 study found that women were more likely than men to feel added stress after the clocks changed. Kids can also take a few days to adjust, which can throw off entire households.

Over time, experts are more concerned about how switching the clocks twice a year affects our long-term health. A Stanford Medicine study found that frequent time changes can increase the risk of stroke and obesity - suggesting we might be better off sticking to one permanent time all year.

Until that happens, the best thing you can do is keep your routine steady. Try going to bed a little earlier, wake up at your usual time, and actually rest for that extra hour instead of staying up late.