10 Good Reasons to Quit Night Shift

Night shift work is a common reason that leads to chronic sleep deprivation for certain professions.

You might be an aged care worker, nurse, pilot, bartender, doctor, or even a casual at the local convenience store. There are many industries that require their employees to work the night shift.

Shift work has long been associated with unhealthy habits and physical troubles, but recent studies have shown that working the night shift may also be linked to a whole host of health problems.

Good Reasons to Quit Night Shift

Good reasons to quit the night shift include poor health outcomes such as weight gain and disrupted sleep cycles, the loss of your social life, less time for your family, more exposure to carcinogens, and suffering from Sleep Work Shift Disorder (SWSD).

For many people, working the night shift or on the weekends is a great way to earn a living. However, some people will like to get out of the night shift as it is not only a physically demanding task but also mentally challenging.

Here are some of the best reasons why it might be a good idea to quit the night shift or, at the very least, reduce the number of hours that you work overnight.

1. Disrupts circadian rhythms

We all have an internal body clock known as circadian rhythm. It cycles every 24 hours and helps control our physiology including how long we sleep (and how well), our hormone levels, our stress levels, and how well we respond to medication.

Regular exposure to daylight helps maintain a healthy circadian rhythm. However, working the night shift often means that you are awake at night and asleep for most of the day. Not only does this misalign your circadian rhythm but it can also disrupt your body clock.

Circadian rhythms disruption can lead to:

• Hormonal imbalances
• Insomnia
• Hypersomnia
• Fatigue
• Anxiety
• Stress.

2. You might need a babysitter

Working the night shift means that you will be away from home for most of the night, if not all of it. If you have children, this could pose problems, especially if there is no one in the house to look after them.

Hiring a babysitter is always an option; however, overnight babysitting costs can be expensive, and the price might be prohibitive for low-paid types of work.

3. You are gaining weight 

Most people who work the night shift tend to sleep and eat in irregular patterns. This means that they are at increased risk of weight gain and diabetes. 

“Night shift workers are 23% more likely to be obese or overweight”

Working the night shift is not just about eating more junk food or choosing less nutritious and convenient options.

Research published in the Iranian Journal of Public Health shows that when your body clock gets out of sync, your metabolism can suffer.

Your metabolism is what maintains balanced hormone levels, so when it is not functioning properly, there are significant health problems such as weight gain.

4. You have less time for your family

Not only does working the night shift mean that you have less time to spend with your family during the quality time in the evening after school and conventional work, but it also means that you spend much of the day asleep.

Working the night shift means that you are less likely to spend quality time with your family as you will be interacting less.

You will also probably be more cranky, inattentive, and miserable when you finally have time to spend with your family, which can affect your relationship with your loved ones.

5. You don’t want Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD)

Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD) is a condition that affects people who work irregular hours, including the night shift. 

Research shows that it can cause workers to develop circadian rhythm sleep disorder where people suffer from either insomnia or sleepiness and, in some cases, both.

Shift Work Sleep Disorder is more than a condition that affects how well you sleep. If you are fatigued, you are more likely to:

• Get into a car accident, harming you or another person
• Have an accident at work
• Have trouble coping with stressful situations
• Become dependent on drugs or alcohol
• Have trouble in commonplace social situations
• Suffer from health problems like weight gain, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stress, and gastrointestinal complaints.

You are also likely to be less productive at work and suffer from mental ailments like anxiety, depression, and stress.

6. You want to reduce your chances of getting cancer

In 2019, a working group convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found that night shift work can increase your chances of getting cancer.

IARC has formally classified night shift work as category 2A (probable carcinogen), meaning there is evidence that shows a possible correlation between working the night shift and an increase in the risk of cancer.

Types of cancer include but are not limited to:

• Colon cancer
• Breast cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Bowel cancer

Of all the health risks of nightshift work, the increased risk of cancer is particularly worrying.

7. You want lower stress levels

Working the night shift has detrimental effects on our health such as weight gain and increased risk of heart attack and diabetes. However, it is also a leading cause of stress. Research published in the Kansas Journal of Medicine shows that the more stressed you are in the workplace, the lower your productivity.

Not only is stress an uncomfortable element of your lifestyle, but it can lead to:

• Mental health problems such as depression and anxiety
• Obesity and eating disorders
• Menstrual problems
• Cardiovascular complains including heart disease, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and stroke.

8. Your social life suffers

There is a well-known phrase about striking the right work-life balance:

“We work to live, not live to work.”

This means that while work is an important component of our lives, it is not the most important part. Of course, some people are lucky enough to find emotional and personal fulfillment through their work.

For most workers, working is a means to an end. You need work so that you can pay your rent or mortgage and put food on the table.

However, work should not take over your lives to such a degree that you miss out on what makes living so worthwhile: spending time with your family and friends.

If working the night shift makes it too difficult to maintain your close friendships and romantic relationships, getting a conventional job might be a better option.

9. You don’t get enough Vitamin D

If you work the night shift, you might not be getting enough exposure to natural light, nor adequate levels of Vitamin D. 

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that helps the body absorb and retain calcium and phosphorous.

We need these elements because they help us maintain and promote strong bone growth, reduce cancer cell growth, reduce inflammation and help boost our immune systems.

10. Your melatonin is suppressed

Melatonin is one of the most important hormones in your body. It is produced by your brain in response to darkness and helps your body regulate your circadian rhythms as well as your sleep and wake cycles.

Melatonin levels usually increase at night, when it is dark, and decrease during the day, when it is light. We need good hormone regularity for overall health and wellness.

If you work at night, you are probably being exposed to light, which can block adequate production of melatonin.

• Workers who work night-shift produced 33.8% less melatonin than day-shift workers.

Not getting enough melatonin can be a problem because if you don’t get enough melatonin each day, you might suffer from poor sleep quality and even sleep deprivation, which can have bad long-term health consequences.

Read Also: