Alabamians will lose an hour of sleep this weekend. Daylight saving time begins this Sunday. Sleep experts say people who have sleeping issues may struggle when their clocks spring forward. They add that it’s important to be aware of how daylight saving has affected you in the past. Dr. John Burkhardt is an Associate Professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama. He says there are positives to daylight saving as well.
“Always the positives are we get a little more access to sunlight, it brightens people’s mood,” said Burkhardt. “I think you see a lot of people looking forward to it. It starts to signal warmer weather about, so people look forward to that because they’ve been cooped up.”
Those who experience insomnia or work nights may feel the effects of daylight saving time more strongly. Burkhardt says it’s important to be aware how daylight saving time has affected you in the past.
“The day that it does happen, you want to still try to get back on your normal sleep schedule, normal eating schedule, all the behaviors that you might do during the day even though it’s going to feel a little bit more rushed because of that change,” Burkhardt advised.
Daylight saving time officially occurs at two AM on Sunday, March thirteenth in Alabama. It ends November sixth.
