Needing Some Sleep, And Some Sanity

I sometimes can't help but to be incredulous.  It's something of curse.


The family and I were driving back from the beach after an extended weekend of sun and fun, listening to the banality that passes for popular music these days, when through the din three words caught my attention.  Now, I typically avoid pop music stations altogether, but playing it in the car keeps the ladies happy and I have developed an ability to ignore it, the music becoming white noise to my ears.  There's only so many Lady Gaga songs I can listen to before I have a psychotic break.  Still, I couldn't ignore a mention of something called shift work disorder.

Shift work disorder?  Really?  I couldn't get past those three words to find out what the mention was for, but I'd resolved to look into this thing called shift work disorder as soon as I had the chance.   Boy, am I glad I did.  The first web site I visited said that shift work disorder (SWD), "is a medical condition that can be diagnosed and treated by a doctor."  Interesting.  SWD occurs when your work schedule isn't in sync with your body's natural circadian rhythm for sleep patterns.  In other words, you work during the time your body wants to sleep.  At night.  And it's a medical disorder.  Consider the medical advancements of recent history; the artificial heart, various vaccines, the human genome project, Viagra, and now shift work disorder.  Medicine is amazing.

SWD can lead to insomnia and excessive sleepiness.  It can also lead to:

• Trouble focusing
  
• Sleepiness-related accidents
  
• Reduced work performance
  
• Missed family and social activities
  
• Increased irritability
  
• Worsening of heart and stomach disorders

During the time I served in the Marine Corps I spent most of the time working a night shift.  The scheduled hours were 4:00PM to 12:30 AM, but there were few days that I didn't see the day crew roll in at 7:00 AM.  In fact, if I were to get out of work by 3:0AM I would have thought it an early night!  My work was pretty demanding and required attention to detail.  We worked to maintain $20 million aircraft, so there was no room for error.  We worked long, hard hours, and I have to admit that I felt many of the related symptoms of SWD, as I'm sure many of my fellow jarheads would agree with for themselves.  The only problem is, I can't imagine any one of us complaining to our NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in charge) or OIC (Officer in charge) that we seemed to be suffering from a disorder that caused us to feel sleepy, or irritable, or might reduce our work performance, or maybe caused us to miss a family activity.  No, that would have been an ugly scene.  Probably would have involved violence.  Remember, this is the United States Marine Corps.

Of course, there are ways to avoid SWD.  One such prescription I saw on a couple of web sites mentions getting enough sleep, say 8 hours worth.  You should also avoid varying work shifts or night shifts altogether.  And the one that really threw me for a loop, the one suffering from SWD can use caffeine or energy drinks to ward off the effects.  That's right, a cup-o-joe a day keeps SWD away.  These might seem to be common sense remedies to most people, but it still took medical professionals to "discover" this disorder, so maybe it's not as common as one might think.  (OK, actually these are common sense remedies, but I'm trying to give these folks the benefit of the doubt here, just to be nice.)

And finally, if you think you suffer from SWD, it's suggested you consult your physician, as there are pharmaceutical remedies that can help with the symptoms.  That's right, there are drugs on the market, prescribed by doctors, that can alleviate your sufferings from SWD.  I really don't want to be cynical here, but I can't help to think there might be something disingenuous about this whole mess.  An obvious result of being tired when you work hours that differ from your natural sleep cycle, symptoms that everyone who's ever been tired are aware of,  and remedies that have long been in use, like caffeine, and we somehow have a medical disorder here?  Could it be the pharmaceutical companies, in collusion with our trusted doctors, have found a way to market yet another drug?   I'll leave that question hanging for you to exercise your own cognitive skills on.  Enjoy.

Do you see why I'm incredulous?