Shift work disorder affects those who frequently rotate their work schedule or work nights, causing trouble sleeping and staying awake. Symptoms include restlessness, drowsiness, and insomnia, and it can lead to accidents and mood problems. Coping strategies include normalizing sleep schedules and reducing irregular shifts.
Shift work disorder is a sleep disorder that can affect people who frequently rotate their work schedule, or those who work nights. This disorder, also known as shift work sleep disorder or SWD, often causes sufferers to have trouble sleeping when they need to be in bed and trouble staying awake when they need to be at work. Shift work disorder does not occur in all irregular shift workers, but it is found almost exclusively in this type of person. Working and sleeping outside of the body’s natural cycle can lead to this condition.
People who work one shift for a day, week, or month and then switch to a completely different shift for a similar amount of time may suffer from this disorder. When people often have to repeatedly adjust their sleep and activity schedules, it can throw the body out of sync with its sleep-wake cycle. For many of these people, the body struggles to stay awake during the day when the shift worker needs to sleep. This disturbed sleep, combined with the body’s natural desire to sleep through the night, can cause extreme tiredness when the worker wants or needs to be awake.
The most common symptoms of shift work disorder are restlessness, drowsiness, and insomnia. People with this disorder have difficulty adjusting to changes in sleeping hours and waking schedules. Shift work disorder is most common in people who work 10am to 6am. These people often suffer from headaches, lack of energy and difficulty concentrating.
Shift work disorder can cause a variety of problems in both home and work life and lead to increased irritability and mood problems. Extreme sleepiness and lack of concentration can lead to more accidents and mistakes at work and often result in more use of sick leave as the disturbance can leave the sufferer disoriented and unable to work. The wakefulness caused by shift work disorder disrupts the natural circadian rhythm of a shift worker. The body is naturally prone to getting tired and waking up at the same time, and shift work disorder puts extra stress on these natural rhythms.
Problems with shift work disorder can be addressed in a number of ways. The first step for someone who works an irregular or night shift and has trouble sleeping is to talk to a doctor to assess the severity of the disorder. From home, a person can help cope with their disorder while still working the same shift, making sure to normalize their sleep schedule as much as possible.
If possible, a person may want to reduce the number of irregular shifts they work in a row or try to add days off before or after these shifts. Excessive overtime and long shifts should also be avoided. When at home, the best thing a person can do is get enough sleep on his days off.
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