Daylight Saving Time and Sleep: Are Fatigue and Insomnia on the Rise?

WATCH TIME: 6 minutes

EP: 1.The Impact of Daylight Saving Time on Sleep Disorders: Challenges for Patients With Insomnia and Circadian Rhythm Disruptions

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EP: 2.Daylight Saving Time and Sleep: Are Fatigue and Insomnia on the Rise?

Daylight saving time involves advancing clocks by 1 hour in the spring and returning to standard time in the fall, disrupting the alignment between the sleep-wake cycle and natural light exposure. This shift can negatively impact sleep health by reducing total sleep duration, altering circadian rhythms, and increasing sleep fragmentation. Research indicates that daylight saving time contributes to higher rates of sleep deprivation, particularly in individuals with preexisting sleep disorders, and is associated with increased risks of metabolic, cardiovascular, and cognitive impairments.¹ The transition is especially challenging for those with rigid schedules, such as shift workers and students, who may struggle with prolonged circadian misalignment.

In collaboration with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), NeurologyLive^® held a roundtable discussion where sleep experts shared their clinical perspectives on the health impacts of the time change as well as solutions. The panelists in this conversation included clinical psychologist Jennifer Martin, PhD, who serves as professor of medicine at UCLA and was recently the past president of the AASM, neurologist and sleep medicine specialist Karin Johnson, MD, who serves as the cochair of the Coalition for Permanent Standard Time and the vice president of Save Standard Time, and pulmonologist Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM, who practices sleep medicine in Fargo, North Dakota.

In this episode, sleep experts examine the impact of daylight saving time on sleep quality, daytime fatigue, cognitive function, and health-related conditions such as headaches and seizures. They highlighted the increased risk of accidents, missed appointments, and disruptions in school and work performance following the time change. The panel also explored adaptation strategies, including gradual sleep adjustments and addressing chronic sleep deprivation. Additionally, they discussed the physiological effects on children, adolescents, and even animals, emphasizing the broader implications of circadian rhythm misalignment.

Transcript edited for clarity.

Isabella Ciccone, MPH: Another question that I have—and I know we kind of touched upon this in some of your earlier responses—but have you noticed an increase in specific sleep-related complaints, such as daytime fatigue, around this daylight saving time transition?

Jennifer Martin, PhD: I think that's the thing we see the most with the seasonal time change, and especially with this particular change that's coming up—more complaints about feeling tired in the morning. I mean, we haven't touched on this yet, but we do see people being late to school and work more, having more accidents—all of those things happen more in the morning after this time change. It might seem like something you just get over, but if kids are late for school, those are missed learning opportunities that they never get back.

This will be my first year going through the time change without a teenager at home. I remember very clearly what it's like, even with the late school start time we have in California, which is wonderful. Still, there is an adjustment for adolescents, who tend to be phase-delayed, and this makes it worse—even with the late school start time.

Karin Johnson, MD: As a neurologist, we see a lot of people complain about headache worsening afterward, and sometimes things like seizures kicking up. So a lot of these other sleep-related disorders can act up, along with mood changes and fatigue.

The other thing relevant to kids—and even adults—is sports performance. There are studies showing that marathon running times are longer on the time change weekend. So, it really affects all the cognitive, productivity, and other aspects that we need our brains to work well for.

Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: We've actually joked about it in our clinic. The Monday after the time change, we'll look at each other and say, "Maybe this is a day we should just block off clinic," because everybody's more tired, a little bit crankier, and late for their appointment.

Karin Johnson, MD: And there's data showing more missed medical appointments in the days after.

Jennifer Martin, PhD: I love to tell this story. My grandfather was a farmer, and I learned recently that he refused to change the clocks in his house because he was a dairy farmer. Of course, animals don’t care what the clock on the wall says. He insisted it was completely ridiculous and didn't change his clocks for years.

That was a big problem because it meant that the kids—my parents and their siblings—had to actually remember that the clocks in the house were not correct according to their school schedules and other obligations. I thought that was very interesting.

We've been talking a lot about humans, but the most obvious thing to me about why this doesn't work is if you look at your pets. I know that our dogs and cats won’t care that the time has changed by one hour on Monday morning. They will want us to get up and feed them at their biological time, not the new time that the clock says.

Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: Isn't it so funny? When we try to explain it to our animals—"Yeah, honey, it's not eight o’clock yet"—they just don’t care. We’ve started trying to either delay or advance their phase for about a week, because otherwise, they’re incessant.

I even used to do it with my fish. I would click the light off and on at different times to advance or delay their sleep phase. But it’s true—babies don’t know either.

Jennifer Martin, PhD: It’s interesting. I hear this a lot and sometimes recommend to people that they do this gradual change. But part of me feels like it’s almost more effort than just flipping the switch, because, of course, our work schedules don’t change by 15 minutes a day. School schedules don’t change by 15 minutes a day.

Even with my own kids, I found it very difficult to do that gradual shift because the only thing changing gradually was us. It would be nice, but for some people—and I put myself in that group—I found it harder than just ripping off the Band-Aid.

Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: It is harder. And I won’t say that I was successful because I would forget that I had to shift things. Then I’d think, "Oh, hang on, where am I in the process now?" So yeah, it was hard, and it seems so silly—I’m just delaying it by 10 minutes.

Karin Johnson, MD: For me, the thing about the gradual shift is that it makes people actually think about the amount of sleep they’re getting. We live in a sleep-deprived society, especially our kids.

So I think the reminder to go into this not being sleep-deprived—or at least being less sleep-deprived—will help you adjust better. That’s what adding a little bit more sleep does. If you’re not sleep-deprived going into it, you can probably switch a lot better. But if you are chronically sleep-deprived, making sure you get a little extra sleep beforehand will probably make the transition less extreme.

Seema Khosla, MD, FCCP, FAASM: That’s a great message—to sort of top off the tank before you go into this imposed shift.

Here’s the other part that kind of bugs me about how we phrase this: They always say, "You lose that hour in the middle of the night," right? And so, by default, we say that hour has to come out of our sleep time. But we don’t say, "That hour has to come out of our Netflix time" or "That hour has to come out of our time hanging on the couch."

Why does it have to come out of our sleep time?

REFERENCES
1. Sleep experts push for adoption of permanent standard time for public health, safety, and efficiency. News Release. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Published January 27, 2025. Accessed March 13, 2025. https://aasm.org/sleep-experts-push-for-adoption-of-permanent-standard-time-for-public-health-safety-and-efficiency