Night shifts, changing work schedule tied to poor mental health: Study

Researchers examined data from seven previously published studies of work schedules and mental health involving a total of 28,438 participants.

People who work night shifts or varied schedules that disrupt their sleep may be more likely to develop depression than individuals with 9-to-5 jobs, a research review suggests.

Researchers examined data from seven previously published studies of work schedules and mental health involving a total of 28,438 participants. Overall, shift workers were 28 percent more likely to experience mental health problems than people with consistent weekday work schedules.

“We know that shift-work alters the circadian rhythm, that is our normal sleep-wake cycle which matches day-night cycle,” said Luciana Torquati, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Exeter in the UK.

“This disruption can make people moody and irritable, and lead to social isolation as shift-workers time-off matches family and friend’s work and life commitments,” Torquati said by email.

In particular, the study found, shift workers were 33 per cent more likely to have depression than people who didn’t work nights or irregular schedules.

Shift workers also had a higher chance of developing anxiety, but in this case the difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance.

Women appeared particularly vulnerable to the negative mental health effects of shift work, researchers report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Compared to women who worked consistent weekday schedules, women who worked nights or split shifts were 78 per cent more likely to experience adverse mental health outcomes.

Men, however, didn’t appear to have an increased risk of mental health issues when they worked nights or irregular schedules.

Business Standard