I have worked a rotating shift schedule for over ten years, switching between day shifts and night shifts regularly. When I was younger, other than missing out on the occasional social event, this did not bother me. I especially enjoy having time off grouped into more days than the typical Monday to Friday schedule allows. But as I get older, and especially now that I have children, the health risks associated with working a rotating shift schedule are becoming more and more worrisome. It may be easy to shrug these health concerns off when starting a career, as symptoms may not rear their ugly heads for decades. But you don’t have to wait decades to realize that the constant circadian disruption of shift work is bad for our health.
Shift workers are at a disadvantage when it comes to optimizing many things that constitute a healthy lifestyle: sleep, nutrition, exercise, and relationships. Difficulties adapting are so common that shift work comes with its own medical condition; shift work sleep disorder (SWSD). Even more alarming, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has stated that “shift work that involves circadian disruption” is considered a Group 2A carcinogen and is “probably carcinogenic to humans”[1].
Shift work is a necessity in our modern “24/7” society and is only becoming more prevalent. It is estimated that twenty percent of workers in industrialized countries are employed in shift work, however the percentage of the population being subjected to circadian disruption is actually much higher[2]. The occupations and industries that require shift work are numerous. They include:
- Health Care
- Production
- Utilities
- Transportation
- Security
- Law Enforcement
- Military
- Firefighting
- Hospitality
- Telecommunications
- Customer Service
Since switching to a regular day shift schedule isn’t a reasonable option for me at this time (and likely not for many others working nights), I have decided to focus my efforts on researching strategies and practices that will minimize the negative effects of circadian disruption, and reduce or eliminate the symptoms of shift work sleep disorder.
I have started this blog as a resource for myself, and to hopefully educate some of the millions of people employed in shift work, as well as many more who may be unknowingly putting their health at risk due to circadian disruption. My goal is to not only reveal ways in which we can cope better with our schedules, but thrive within them.