Maritimers prepare for clocks to 'fall back' this weekend

You may not have heard it until the last minute, but this weekend the clocks go back an hour - like they always do this time of year.

"Take it away. It screws us all up," said one cruise ship visitor in downtown Sydney, N.S., on Friday.

For years, many have wanted to do away with Daylight Saving Time, feeling the twice-a-year time change comes with unintended consequences.

"Oh, they're very real," said Arsenio Paez, a sleep researcher at Concordia University.

Paez said the change in time can cause problems more serious than you might think, and there are numbers to back it up.

"That first week after the shift we see a five to six per cent increase in fatal heart attacks, a large 10-11 per cent increase in motor vehicle accidents," he said.

Police in Toronto have asked drivers and pedestrians to be extra careful in the days ahead, citing an historical increase in crashes in the month after the clocks go back.

Paez also points to the toll on mental health - like Seasonal Affective Disorder – along with problems that arise simply from not sleeping well.

"And that's very tied to a higher risk of depression, a higher risk of exacerbation of symptoms for people who already have mental health issues," Paez said.

Some are in favour of leaving the time change the way it is, or at the very least don't seem to mind it.

"Yeah, they can keep it. It's alright," said another visitor to Sydney on Friday. "In the U.S, it's definitely a natural thing. We don't have any say-so about it."

While Paez said people typically have a less difficult time with the 'fall back' than the 'spring ahead,' he feels Daylight Saving should be done away with.

Since it's still here for now, he says there are things we can do to better adjust.

He suggests going to bed even 10 or 15 minutes earlier than normal might help a bit.

"Mostly what we can do is really just try to have good, healthy sleep throughout the week leading up to it and after it," he said.

Clocks officially go back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday.