Over 22 million American adults work non-traditional hours, including shift work. If you work outside the typical 9:00 am to 5:00 pm schedule, your job may make it feel impossible to maintain an ordinary sleep schedule.

Shift work can cause many issues, and sleep is often predominantly affected. It can even cause a condition known as shift work sleep disorder (SWSD). Learn how your work schedule impacts sleep and what you can do about it.

What Sleep Issues Are Caused by Shift Work?

The body's internal clock produces circadian rhythms in the brain that are matched to a 24-hour cycle.

As you go through your daily cycle, you experience changes in alertness, sleepiness, body temperature, hunger, and hormone levels.

Your level of exposure to sunlight plays a significant role in regulating your internal clock. Changes in sunlight make most people sleepy at night and alert during the day, with a bit of drowsiness in the afternoon.

Unfortunately, your body is constantly fighting its natural cycle if you work at night and sleep during the day.

Shift workers are generally sleep-deprived as a result. Workers with longer shifts, such as 12 hours, tend to have even more sleep difficulties. Some of the consequences of poor sleep due to shift work may include:

• Insomnia
• Difficulty falling asleep
• Sleeping lightly and waking up often
• Not feeling rested
• Decreased alertness when awake
• Increased risk of accidents

If your symptoms are severe enough, you may be diagnosed with SWSD (shift work sleep disorder).

What is Shift Worker Sleep Disorder?

Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) is classified as a circadian rhythm disorder. This means that those who work during normal sleep hours (shift workers) can throw off their body's internal clock, which tells them when it's time to be awake or asleep.

Shift work disorder is most common in people working non-traditional hours such as night shifts, graveyard shifts, evening shifts, rotating shifts, and those working early morning shifts.

Experts believe that between 10 - 40% of shift workers suffer SWSD. However, some shift workers are natural "night owls" and have circadian rhythms that allow them to cope with different sleep patterns.

What Are the Symptoms of Shift Work Disorder?

Shift work sleep disorder causes chronic sleep deprivation, making people feel like they don't get enough sleep. Over time, these long-term sleep disturbances can have severe implications for health, safety, and productivity.

Once sleeping hours are returned to normal, the symptoms of shift work sleep disorder may stop. However, some people struggle to adjust, even after leaving night shifts behind.

Common symptoms of shift work sleep disorder include:

• Depression
• Irritability
• Headaches
• Lack of energy
• Excessive sleepiness while awake
• Relationship problems
• Trouble concentrating
• Insomnia symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep
• Feeling groggy and unrefreshed after sleeping

The average person will not get enough sleep or occasionally feel sleepy at work. But, for those with shift work sleep disorder, the symptoms above are chronic and ongoing and can even start to affect the quality of their work.

What Are the Risks of SWSD and Other Sleep Disorders?

There are many risks associated with sleep disorders, such as shift work disorder. Night shift work and rotating shifts can affect sleep hygiene, cause poor health and lead to problems in the workplace.

A few common risks associated with sleep disorders include:

• Obesity
• Mental disorders
• Cardiovascular disease
• High cholesterol levels
• Frequent flu and colds
• Breast and prostate cancer
• More mistakes at work
• Increased sick days
• Accidents due to drowsy driving
• Alcohol and drug dependency

How is Shift Work Sleep Disorder Diagnosed?

Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) will be diagnosed by your doctor, who'll ask you multiple questions about your sleep patterns and disturbances. They'll also ask you what type of shift work schedule you're currently on.

Alongside this, you may be asked to keep a sleep diary for at least seven days and to give information about your current and past medical history.

If further information is needed, you may be asked to participate in an in-lab sleep study or to have multiple sleep latency tests (MSLT). These are usually performed when narcolepsy or sleep apnea is suspected.

During the sleep study, you'll wear monitors on your body that evaluate:

• Breathing
• Heart rate
• Sleep Quality
• Time and frequency of sleep disturbances

To further pinpoint whether you have shift work sleep disorder (SWSD), your doctor may use actigraphy monitoring. For this, you'll be asked to wear a small sensor on your wrist that measures sleep and awake time.

Tips to Help Manage Shift Work Sleep Disorder

While it might not be possible to get rid of your night shifts, there are a few lifestyle changes you can make to help reduce the effects of SWSD. These include:

• Keep a regular sleep schedule, even when you're not working
• When possible, take 48 hours off between night shifts
• Take naps before your night shift
• Stop drinking caffeine four hours before bedtime
• Wear sunglasses after a night shift to minimize exposure to light. This prevents the "daytime" clock from kicking in, which tells your brain to be awake
• Eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and antioxidants to boost the immune system
• Install room darkening shades to create a dark sleeping environment
• Ask family members or roommates to keep the noise down while you're trying to sleep
• Listen to white noise, which will mute any environmental sounds
• Improve sleep hygiene by creating bedtime rituals such as meditating, listening to soothing music, and having a warm bubble bath
• Ask your healthcare provider for a melatonin supplement
• Consider light therapy. Purchase a lightbox to expose your eyes to bright light before you start a night shift. The National Sleep Foundation says that bright light therapy is effective at shifting the sleep cycle for shift workers

How Do You Treat Shift Work Disorder?

While lifestyle changes should help lessen the effect that rotating shifts have on your sleep, a variety of sleep aids and medications also help.

Firstly, it's important to discuss your symptoms with your doctor to see what they recommend. A few options they may recommend for you include:

Natural Supplements

Before you reach for sleep medicine, try a natural supplement such as melatonin. Melatonin is non-addictive and can be taken long-term with zero side effects.

Stimulant Medications

To relieve excessive sleepiness during your night shift, ask your GP about stimulant medications such as Provigil and Nuvigil. Both have been approved to treat sleepiness due to shift work sleep disorder.

Sleep Medications

If you struggle with sleep deprivation after shift work, your doctor may prescribe sleep aids such as Sonata, Lunesta, or Ambien. All these medications are effective at helping a person fall asleep faster.

How Long Does Shift Work Disorder Last?

The symptoms of shift work sleep disorder usually last as long as you continue the same shift schedule. After changing your work hours to something more traditional, your sleep problems will likely go away.

Why is Shift Work so Tiring?

Shift work disrupts your natural circadian rhythm, which disrupts a healthy sleep pattern. Night shifts force your body to sleep against its natural clock, reducing your quality sleep hours.

Rotating shifts are even harder on the health. The human body likes to operate on a schedule, so it knows when to produce certain hormones.

When you see light at certain times during one week and then differently the next week, your body can struggle to know when to produce neurochemicals for bodily functions, digestion, and sleep.

Regular, quality sleep is also important to help the body repair. An irregular sleep schedule can limit the body's ability to recover, making you more susceptible to illness and health problems in the future.

When Should I Sleep if I Work Night Shifts?

If you're new to working nights, adjusting to a new sleep schedule can be hard. You may struggle with excessive sleepiness in the first few weeks while your body gets used to the new work hours.

But, with a little time, you can reset your body clock, so you feel sleepy at the end of your shift. Follow this simple workday plan for night workers:

Work

11 pm: Start work

Midnight - 5 am: Hep to reset your circadian rhythm with bright light exposure. Invest in a light therapy box to simulate daytime while you're working at night. Use it on your breaks.

3 am: Have your last cup of coffee if you're a caffeine drinker. It's best to stop drinking caffeine for at least four hours before you plan to go to bed.

3am - 4am: Eat dinner. Aim to push your dinner meal later each night until you're comfortable eating at this time.

7 am: Finish your shift. Head home, but avoid bright light as much as possible by wearing sunglasses or glasses designed to block blue light.

Rest

8 am: Get into bed as soon as possible. If your body gets exposed to too much light, your temperature rises too soon, upsetting your circadian rhythm, which you want to reset. If you allow this, your sleep quality will be affected, and you won't sleep long enough.

8 am - 3pm: Sleep. Promote good sleep hygiene with blackout curtains or blinds and play white noise to drown out environmental noises.

Start Your Day

3 - 4 pm: Get up and eat breakfast. Get at least 15 minutes of light exposure so your circadian clock thinks it's morning. Use your lightbox if there's no sun outside.

4.30 pm - 7 pm: Get active doing daily activities such as shopping, household chores, exercise, and spending time with your family.

9 pm: Eat lunch and start getting ready for work.

How to Get Better Sleep as a Shift Worker

You may not be able to avoid shift work, but you can take steps to improve the duration and quality of your sleep. Creating a sleep routine is an effective strategy for optimal results. Stick with a regular bedtime and wake-up schedule every day if possible.

On the other hand, this strategy isn't possible if you have a rotating shift schedule. Try gradually shifting your sleeping and waking times over a few days as you move from one schedule to another. Here are some other ways to get more sleep:

• Get blackout curtains for your bedroom to simulate nighttime.
• If you live with others, ask them to keep the house quiet during your sleeping hours.
• Try melatonin, a natural sleep supplement that is generally safe and may help you fall asleep more easily. Consult your doctor before trying it.
• Take a short nap during your "day" to restore your energy.
• Avoid naps within a few hours of bedtime. You want to ensure you are as sleepy as possible when it's finally time to hit the hay.
• Try to fit daily exercise into your routine. It'll help relax the mind and body, making you sleepy when it's time for bed.
• Practice relaxation strategies to reduce stress and anxiety. Meditations on BetterSleep, for instance, can prepare you for sleep at any time of day.

Final Thoughts

Unconventional work hours are not going away. The demand for shift workers will continue to increase with technological advancements.

As a shift worker, you have challenges other people don't face. You should be conscious of your health and well-being and focus on getting more sleep and better-quality sleep.

If you struggle with sleep and it affects your functioning, talk to your doctor for help and potential medical intervention.

Use sleep aids such as the BetterSleep app to improve your sleep hygiene with bedtime stories, relaxing music, and guided meditations.