The Impact of Shift Work on Your Sleep Schedule
On 08nov2024
People working in shifts are faced with a lot of issues particularly when working in night shifts. There is possibility of sleep disorder shift work due to lack of sleep during the sleeping window period. For these people the time to sleep happens when the whole world goes to work. This affects the normal body clock of the person, which finds it difficult to control this change in sleeping habit. Shift workers going in for short duration assignments are the worst affected in this category. This is because these workers have no other option but to make sure to change their sleeping patterns after a few days.
This prevents the body rhythm to set up a smooth flow for adjusting with the body clock causing excessive tiredness in the person affected by this kind of work. It does not matter if these people get six to eight hours of rest. The body clock fails to function in a proper manner if these shift workers have to work at night. Sleep disorder shift work brings down energy levels and leads to high degree of fatigue in a person. In certain instances, the organization cannot control shift work process in spite of the fact that these sleep deprived workers tend to be less productive.
Sleep disorder shift work can lead to a variety of complications for the person such as indigestion, depression, and low physical activity. The digestive system becomes sluggish at night. For older people this effect of shift work becomes extremely difficult to cope with as the body becomes less resilient with age. Depression in the shift worker leads to lowering of the immune system that makes these shift workers prone to ailments such as flu, cold, and other health related issues. In most cases, it becomes an emotional issue since the shift worker spends their time at home when others have gone to work or fulfill other commitments.
This leads to socializing issues along with sleep disorder shift work. Therefore, in order to make sure to get out of such a discomfort zone it is important to make sure that your body develops the natural rhythm as expected. This rhythm should allow you to get proper rest when the room is dark in spite of the fact that it might be daytime. The basic idea is to slow down body processes and repair damaged cells in spite of the fact that these workers are sleeping during daytime.
The correction of sleeping cycle makes sure that there occurs secretion of melanin by the glands that slow down physical activities inside your body. Through the secretion of this substance, the body tends to become very slow. When shift work starts to have negative effect on body clock this substance is reduced in the body. Therefore, the much-needed encouragement to sleep is totally removed. However, it is possible to get rid of sleeping disorder for shift workers by getting hold of sleep masks, making sure to avoid getting disturbed by external factors, and having treatment through bright light therapy.
If you need an application to help you get reminders of your shifts, check out MyShiftWork app.