Did You Know One in Four Shift Workers May Have Shift Work Disorder?
(BPT) - On his weekend off work, Brian was looking forward to a relaxing Saturday running errands with his wife. But when his wife was driving them home from the grocery store, Brian fell asleep in the car. Ever since Brian started working shifts at the mill, he was struggling with excessive sleepiness. No matter how much sleep he got, his body struggled to stay awake. After similar instances at work, this was the final straw for Brian. He made an appointment with his doctor and was ultimately diagnosed with excessive sleepiness due to shift work disorder (SWD), a medical condition that occurs when your work schedule is out of sync with your body’s internal sleep-wake cycle.
Today, approximately 15 million Americans work shifts outside of a typical 9-to-5 schedule across a variety of industries including healthcare, law enforcement and hospitality. In addition, up to 45% of night shift workers and 36% of rotating shift workers experience excessive sleepiness. Working shifts may be linked to an increased risk of certain health issues including anxiety, depression, some cancers and SWD.
Excessive sleepiness is just one symptom of SWD. Shift workers’ bodies are telling them to go to sleep while their job demands they stay awake, resulting in SWD, which may affect as many as 25 percent of shift workers. Insomnia, another main symptom of SWD, is trouble sleeping during sleeping hours. Treating this insomnia alone may not necessarily resolve the excessive sleepiness they are experiencing.
Considering one in four shift workers may have SWD and not even know it, more understanding of the condition and its potential treatment options are needed. SWD may lead to trouble focusing, sleepiness-related accidents, decreased work performance and missed family and social activities.
When diagnosing SWD, healthcare professionals look for symptoms which have been present for at least one month and check patients for signs of other sleeping or mental health disorders that could be causing similar symptoms. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, patients may be instructed to make certain lifestyle changes such as avoiding caffeine before bedtime, turning on bright lights when needing to be awake, napping, exercise and sticking to a sleep and wake schedule, even on days off. When discussing symptoms with a doctor, patients should be sure to include their job, work and sleep schedule, the types of shifts they work, any symptoms they may experience and how their shift impacts them.
If you work nights or rotating shifts and struggle to stay awake during your shift, talk to your doctor about excessive sleepiness due to SWD. To learn more about shift work disorder, visit www.GetYourShiftTogetherNow.com.
CNS-40156
October 2014
