Did you know that at least a quarter of all employed individuals engage in shift work? That’s right: one in four individuals are involved in shift work, including professions such as manufacturing, healthcare, first responders, and more. With so many job opportunities and a clear need for shift work, you might be wondering how this impacts sleep and your immune system. Unfortunately, research shows shift work can have a negative impact.
In this article, we’ll explore shift work and its challenges, specifically regarding how it can disrupt your sleep and your immune system. We’ll also take a look at some of the coping strategies experts recommend for shift workers to ensure you get enough sleep. If you’re ready to learn more, read on!
How Shift Work Disrupts Sleep
It’s no secret that shift work disrupts our sleep. Shift work is generally outside of the regular working hours, which means that we often end up enjoying meals, exercising, and sleeping during abnormal hours. Studies show that shift work can force abrupt changes to our sleep and the light-dark exposure we get, which can lead to circadian rhythm misalignment.
When our circadian rhythm becomes misaligned, we struggle to stick to an expected schedule, and our bodies need to feel our best. It means that shift workers are also hurt due to poor quality of sleep and reduced sleep duration, both of which are bad news for our health. Not only that, but it can also lead to shift work sleep disorder, which can have harmful effects on your overall well-being.
Shift work sleep disorder typically is characterized by symptoms such as challenges with falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping when they want to. If you work the overnight or morning shift, you’re more likely to potentially suffer from this disorder (Source: Harvard Health Publishing). In the short term, shift work can hurt your rest, but in the long term, just think about what it can do to your immune system!
The Impact of Shift Work on Your Immune System
You likely already know that losing sleep is bad for you, but how bad is losing sleep due to shift work? As you might have guessed, shift work wreaks havoc on your immune system and can make it harder for you to stay healthy. Numerous experts have spoken about the dangers of shift work, including how losing sleep and suffering from circadian misalignment leads to increased vulnerability to infections (Source: PubMed).
Some studies do suggest that the potential impacts differ depending on your gender. When studied in the laboratory, female rats who were misaligned with their circadian rhythm to simulate shift work had fewer pro-inflammatory cytokines compared to males. While it’s unclear if this could be applied to humans as of yet, what this communicates is clear: men might be more impacted by excess inflammation due to a lack of sleep due to shift work than women.
Overall, as you can see, shift work makes it harder and harder for us to stay healthy. When we lose sleep, we lose our ability to protect our immunity, making it difficult to stay energized and in optimal health. That’s why—if you’re a shift worker—you need to implement some coping mechanisms to help you protect yourself as much as you possibly can.
Coping Strategies for Shift Workers: How to Improve Sleep Quality and Protect Your Immunity
Despite the negative impacts of shift work, there are many things you can do to protect your sleep and support a healthy immune system. Let’s explore a few of the best methods based on the latest research, as well as actionable steps you can take to make changes in your life to navigate irregular schedules.
Work to Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
Sleep hygiene is one of the most critical issues when it comes to sleep quality, even if you work irregular shifts. That means you have to take time to create a comfortable, relaxing environment where you sleep. So, ensure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and cool. You don’t want to sleep in a room that is too hot, noisy, and bright.
If you have to sleep during the day to get your rest, use blackout curtains and white noise machines to make sure you are able to rest. And most importantly, sleep at the same time every day! You want to keep a consistent schedule so you can continue to support your body as best as you can.
Be Strategic About Napping When You’re Not at Work
For those who have to get shuteye wherever they can, napping can undoubtedly be a great way to encourage optimal health. However, you should be strategic about it. That means napping at the right times, focusing on power naps that are less than an hour, and doing so in a peaceful setting.
Research shows that naps for shift workers can help them feel less sleepy and improve their performance, but there is a little bit of sleep inertia you might struggle with when you first wake up (Source: Biological Research for Nursing). Still, implementing naps at critical times might be what you need if you’re a shift worker constantly navigating a complex schedule!
Get Some Light Exposure Throughout the Day
It’s no secret that daylight can do wonders for how awake we feel, even after a poor night of rest. As shift workers, getting light exposure can help you battle the symptoms of shift work sleep disorder. That’s because light is “a direct effector of endogenous circadian clocks,” meaning light is what signals to our brains that we either need to sleep or stay awake (Source: Science of the Total Environment).
So, if you work overnight, getting light exposure during your shift can help you stay awake. Bright light therapy is excellent for ensuring you remain affixed to a particular circadian rhythm while you are a shift worker! That also means limiting your light exposure before sleep, especially from artificial screens like phones and TVs. Try shutting those off about an hour before bed and see how it makes you feel.
How Will You Improve Your Sleep and Immunity as a Shift Worker?
With these coping strategies, you can take steps to protect your health. Additionally, with other lifestyle changes, you can continue to support your overall well-being and ensure you get adequate rest. We hope that this article taught you something new! If you’re a shift worker, what strategies will you try in your life?
