By Abi Clarke
Working night shifts means that people need to change their regular sleep-wake cycle, and become accustomed to nocturnal activity. This forces them to progressively change their circadian rhythms. Not just because they were up all night scrolling TikTok, but because they were working!
However, even after long periods circadian rhythms rarely allow for a complete reversal. This results in workers not being able to fully adjust to being completely alert during the night and getting the sufficient sleep during the day time that they would during night. Instead, people tend to become disassociated due to a flattened circadian rhythms.
Disturbances in circadian rhythms can have several consequences on health and wellbeing.
In the short term:
- Fatigue
- Sleepiness/insomnia
- Digestive troubles
- Reduced mental ability and performance efficiency.
In the long term rhythmic disturbances can contribute to the development of a wide range of complaints and illnesses.
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