Weekly Health Digest: Daylight Savings, Abortion Bans & OB-GYN Training, and Why We Love Getting Scared

How to Fall Back Without Missing A Beat 

By Holly Burns, The New York Times

Sunday, November 6th is around the corner. And unless you live in Hawaii or Arizona, that means Daylight Saving Time will end. At 2 am, we will all engage in the ritualistic one-hour shift backward. For many people, this change is not a welcomed one. Studies show that seasonal depression hits hardest in the colder months when we see less sun. But there are a few ways to lessen the blow. For one, people should take advantage of the extra hour of sleep they will get on the day we switch our clocks back. Sleep deprivation hurts our moods and takes away our energy, so getting that extra of our sleep will only help. Second, people ought to continue exercising and eating well — but researchers emphasize flexibility. It will get dark earlier , so rather than going on an afternoon run, move it to the morning. Daylight Saving Time may not be ideal, but these are a few ways we can make it more bearable. 

— by Andrew Feld

OB-GYN Residency Programs Face State Abortion Bans

By Jan Hoffman, The New York Times

Many medical residents may now have to choose between continuing abortion training illegally or give up their board certification. Last month, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education officially declared the longstanding requirement that OB-GYN residency programs provide abortion training. The juxtaposition of the accrediting body and the legal state has brought light to a serious dilemma. 45% of all OB-GYN residency programs in the US are located in states likely or certain to ban abortion. Some programs are seeking out of state rotations, while others are implementing head professors who are helping to start a residency program with no abortion training. Public health experts foresee a decrease in obstetricians in abortion-prohibited states as many medical students are applying to only states where abortion is legal. Ariana Traub, a second year medical student at Emory University, says, “abortion management is about so much more than a procedure.” 

– by Emily Kim

Why we like scary things: The science of recreational fear

By Richard Sima, The Washington Post

The popular “horror” genre of media typically peaks during this time of the year. People enjoy immersing themselves in scary media for multiple reasons, and research suggests that there are psychological benefits of being in low-stakes, frightening environments. One study found that 50 percent of those who walk through a haunted house have elevated moods after exiting. They were also able to face other frightening situations during this period of elevated mood without feeling as much fear. Facing scary situations can help people learn how to deal with fear and how much fear they are able to handle. Some people enjoy doing it for the adrenaline, others for learning how to cope with it, and still others for the low-stake, tangibility of frightening media. For all of these individuals, facing recreational fear provides a reward that is worth the stress. Each person has their own threshold of fear—when they experience too much fear, there are no longer benefits to the experience. This is why many people tend to enjoy terrifying media in less intense situations, such as with friends or during the day, so they can disconnect from the situation when it feels too intense. Additionally, if a situation does not bring someone enough fear, or as much as they were expecting to face beforehand, they will be bored and won’t reap the benefits of it.  A person who voluntarily subjects themselves to fear will be able to handle real-world scary situations better, and feel more in control of their actions. A little bit of low-stakes fear can’t hurt!

— by Sammy Ramacher

Items contributed by: Andrew Feld, Emily Kim, and Sammy Ramacher