Work Shift Disorder

If you are a working man immersed in today’s commercial market, you are probably familiarized with work shift. A somewhat new model of work time, established to supposedly maximize effective work time and productivity around the clock may be proving to be more harmful than good. In a day and age in which people work around the clock, those taking non-stop work shifts are failing to prove that work shift is the more productive way to go. The price: people’s health.

As a result of this allegedly more productive way of work, a sleep-associated condition has risen among those pushing their sleep envelope. Work Shift Disorder, also known as Work Lag or Shift Work Change, is a condition caused mainly by sleep deprivation due to overworking and long work shifts. Employees working multiple shifts in a row have proven to fall a sleep during work more often, consequently increasing the changes of industrial accidents; counterproductive outcome from what the method is supposed to generate.

In order to cover a full 24 hours, companies have segmented working hours into 8-hour shifts. Therefore, a day would consist of a morning shift, starting at 7 am until 3pm, followed by the 3 to 11pm shift and crowned by the night shift, from 11pm to 7am. Studies have shown that those people constantly working the night shift, for example, have gotten used to that rhythm and manage to sleep during the day and work at night.

However, their social and family lives seem to disrupt the schedule assimilated throughout the week. During their days off, people working alternative work shifts go back to regular time activities in which they sleep at night and have activity during day time. This switching messes up internal clocks everywhere, and in hand sleep patterns as well.

Those who constantly change shifts are then by far in worse conditions. Never being able to adjust to one routine, the body is in a permanent state of tiredness and is completely disoriented. Metabolism and other bodily functions like erectile dysfunction associated to exhaustion, and sleep problems develop, these being difficult to treat with conventional medication like generic Viagra or antidepressants.

Work shift doesn’t seem to fit all people. Some might be more likely to fit the late night work shift model than others. Those more productive during the morning are unlikely to perform as well in the 11pm to 7 am shift. However, age is an important factor regarding shift work performance. As people grow older, it is common to start having a harder time coping with working shifts. Energy is not the same and sleeping schedules are not as easy to control as before.

Because of family and other daily interruptions, men who work shifts are more likely to sleep less than a person with a regular day job would. Because sleeping during the day is not regular business hours, phone calls, people at the door and home activities are likely to interrupt a work shift employee’s sleeping patterns. Consequently, because these people are sleeping less, they become less productive faster than those sleeping a full 8 hours.

Ideally people working shifts would live close by to reduce commute time and would have preferential treatment regarding days off and the amount of night shifts they would work in a row. However, this is unlikely the case. Medication like antidepressants are sometimes recommended to establish a regular sleeping pattern and such; yet, antidepressants are known for their addictiveness and dependency these create on the patient.

Tweet This Post