After 12 years of working crazy shifts here on the drawbridge, often two or three different shifts in the space of a week, I’m now discovering that there is an official name for my constant state of mental fog, my messed up immune system, and my apparent inability to lose weight despite all efforts. It’s called Shift Work Sleep Disorder. Classified as Circadian Rhythm Sleep Disorder in the DSM-IV, I can now say that what’s going on with me can be taken seriously, for all the good that does me.
Symptoms of this disorder include:
- Lack of sleep. (Well, duh…)
- Increased stress.
- Increased risk of infections, including colds and flu.
- Increased risk of breast and prostate cancer.
- Higher cholesterol.
- Increased risk of heart attack.
- Increased risk of obesity.
- Insomnia.
- Headaches.
- Difficulty concentrating.
- Reduced attention span.
- Gastrointestinal and digestive problems.
- Decreased production of Melatonin, causing decreased immunity, and increased production of tumors.
Some other fun facts about shift work are:
- We are twice as likely to have a work related accident.
- Sick leave is reported in 63 percent of shift workers as opposed to 34 percent of day workers.
- 30 percent of us are single, compared to 20 percent of day workers.
All this due to a disruption in our circadian rhythms. I’d love to say “Now I don’t feel so bad,” but actually I feel just as bad. Now I just have a name for it.
There are some things you can do about it, but I’m just too tired to write more. So just check out the sources for this blog entry:
- WebMD Sleep Disorders Health Center
- Awake in Philly’s Shift Work Sleep Disorder Fact Sheet
- Questions and Answers about Shift Work: A Sloan Work and Family Research Network Fact Sheet
The View from a Drawbridge 
Can’t you get together with the other sleep-deprived zombies and file a class action lawsuit???
I’m for that, but trying to get sleep deprived zombies to lift their head out of the fog long enough to agree on anything is a herculean task at best.
Hence the problem with the Senate and Congress…
Indeed.
yup.
From another FBT…I love the job because the views of nature are awesome. From the water fowl to the sunsets. Some of the boats too! I just get tired of seeing people wetting the grounds when portables are available and the cans they toss after they guzzled a few down.
Yup, you’re definitely a bridgetender! 🙂 Based on this comment, you’d like one of my first blog entries https://theviewfromadrawbridge.wordpress.com/2012/12/01/nature-is-whats-happening-while-youre-not-looking/
What bridge did you work on?