Shift work disorder implies a health condition that entails excessive sleepiness or insomnia. In most occurrences, it affects individuals working night shifts or rotating shifts. The professionals most affected by shift work sleep disorder are police officers, nurses, doctors, paramedics, factory employees, night guards, and night cleaning workers. When you work irregular shifts, your body can get confused, resulting in fatigue, sleep, absenteeism, and unnecessary workplace accidents. Keep reading and learn more about work shift disorder symptoms and treatment.
Reasons Why Night Shift can make You Sleepy
Everyone is intensely ingrained in the body’s organic way of regulating sleeping and waking up. When the nature of the job requires you to sleep during the day and work at night, it implies you are going against the organic tempo of your body and mind, which may result in shift work sleep disorder. Shift rotation is even more confusing for the body since it needs to be positioned to adopt or predict sleeping and waking up time accurately. If you want to enhance your body’s health and proper functionality, it is helpful to consider regular quality sleep.
Prevention of Shift Work Sleep Disorder
Luckily, if the nature of your work requires you to operate beyond the traditional office hours, it is helpful to follow some steps to adjust your body accordingly. For instance, you can schedule days off in between shifts. This can be advantageous by allowing your body to relax and gain some needed rest. Also, you can expose yourself to bright lights during your changes. This can help in enhancing the regulation of your circadian rhythm. When you have to sleep during the day, it is advisable to use blackout opaque or blackout curtains. When your body feels sunlight, it is trained to be awake, even if you are extremely tired. Additionally, it is vital to turn off your phone or keep it in another room. Limit caffeine intake, and keep up a consistent sleeping and waking schedule if possible.
Symptoms of Shift Work Sleep Disorder
These symptoms vary from one person to another, and the extent of their sleep disruption. Some of the popular signs of work sleep disorder are:
- Excessive sleeping.
- Insomnia.
- Depression.
- Lack of focus.
- Headaches.
- Memory loss.
Moreover, the above-listed symptoms may result in consequences such as:
- Absenteeism at work.
- Unnecessary accidents at workplaces.
- Higher risks of other health conditions.
- Poor social life.
- Risk of being on drugs as a coping mechanism.
Therefore, it would be great to seek professional medical help online to ensure excellent physical and mental health. The ideal physician will help diagnose your health problem and guide you through the path of relief.
Conclusion
Most individuals tend to ignore shift work sleep disorder. They don’t take their condition seriously and see it as something they can manage. However, visiting a professional doctor is ideally crucial since it helps determine the extent of your health condition. When you are too busy to visit a physical health facility, you can find a doctor online who can assist you in developing quality sleep. The doctor can also recommend some vital tips highlighted and discussed earlier in this article.
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