Time to change the change

“Fall back,” they say, as a reminder of which way time should be altered at the end of Daylight Saving Time, as though that saying alone makes it an easy thing to do.

Huh?

Turning clocks backwards shortens their lives. Science has shown the DST change does the same to humans.

Perhaps unfortunately for me, I love clocks. I have ever since I used to slip into my grandma’s house in Monticello while she was at work and simply sit and absorb the quiet not found in my parent’s house with seven kids.

I would close my eyes and listen to the ticking of her Regulator wall clock. It brought order to my life. Sixty beats per minute, just like my heart rate.

And then, in 1970, the Utah legislature disrupted that perfect rhythm, and my life has never been as tranquil since – especially because I now have a clock in every room of my home.

Time and time again, I have seriously considered moving to Arizona, where the government doesn’t try to control people’s lives in this way. According to data from the CDC, Utah ties with three other states for the highest rate of depression in the U.S. Meanwhile, Arizona and Hawaii, two states that don’t do the time change, fall at the bottom of the scale.

Causation or correlation?

Reportedly, 33 states have now introduced Daylight Saving Time related legislation to end this cycle. A recent article in Scientific American, “Governments Worldwide Consider Ditching Daylight Saving Time” claims, “Scientists have been calling attention to the damaging effects of the time changes – which include a general reduction in mental and physical well-being...”

I know having to change my clocks twice a year is enough on its own to depress me. Maybe next time I should turn them back to 1969. Problem solved.