Shift Work Sleep Disorder
…better known as SWSD

Shift work sleep disorder has become one of the more common sleeping disorders especially among medical professionals, police officers, firemen and the college student population.

Many of these people operate around the clock with a variety of shift scheduling changes. It’s notorious among college students as they change semesters and class times, or when exams promote late night study.

Many of those who work during the night suffer from what is known as SWSD or shift work sleep disorder. In fact it is estimated to affect about 25% of the 20 million people who work shifts in the United States: and this covers many types of jobs and professions.

What happens is that you are forced to function outside of your body’s natural circadian rhythm and this rhythm never gets fully adjusted to the new hours. In fact it doesn’t matter how long a person works overnight, for when they are greeted with the morning sunlight, a signal is sent to the brain saying it’s time to wake up! This means being in constant circadian disruption, making you feel disorientated and confused.

Not giving yourself time to adjust between sleep time changes will tend to promote this disorder. There are, however several recognized ‘coping strategies’:

• Many with this disorder will move their bedroom to an isolated place in the house and try to make this room as dark and as quiet as possible. Let your family know you need quiet!

 

• It is best to avoid as much morning sunlight as possible at the time you finish the shift and are getting ready for bed. Get home quickly, with as much eye covering as possible and get into the dark. The more you’re exposed to sunlight the more difficult it will be to sleep.

 

• Follow a sleep strategy, an order of events, that you also follow when not on night shift. Following the same routine when not working sometimes helps with the routine you follow when you do the shifts. The problem comes when you alternate day and night shifts.

 

• Limit what you eat and drink during the later half of the night shift, especially anything with caffeine or sugar. Establishing a caffeine cutoff time during the night would help not keep you awake later on.

…Be very careful with sleeping pills. It is easy to become dependent on them and they do not help with any changes of circadian rhythm.

Not everyone is able to tolerate working during the night and the constant battle with this disorder often causes a change of career. Stress begins to play an important role and this starts the insomnia cycle which causes even more stress!

Sleep pattern changes must not be undertaken very quickly and to do so causes burn out, sleeplessness, insomnia and even indigestion. Forcing you body to so things that are not natural, especially where sleep is concerned, can be very unhealthy.

Shift work sleep disorder can start you on the road to constant sleep disturbance and a debilitating sleeping disorder. Talk with your doctor if you are a person in a job where night shifts are affecting your sleep patterns.

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