[rusty rake]

Are there any other shift workers here? I would love to know how you improved your sleep. A lot of the advice I read tells me to stick to specific bedtimes and have a sleep routine but thats something I cant do.

If there are any other shift workers here I would really like to hear from you with some tips and advice. I am hoping I am not beyond help because of my job.

[Martin Reed]

I don't know if we have any other shift workers here (off the top of my head) but I think this is a very good discussion topic so I'll put it out in the next Insomniac Bulletin and hopefully we'll get some answers!

In the meantime, this blog post may help: http://www.insomnialand.com/blog/insomnia-help-for-shift-workers/

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[ycipressi]

I am now retired, but I worked shift work most of the time. I have often wondered if it totally messed up my sleep.

Yvonne

[rusty rake]

Did your sleep get better once you retired?

[ycipressi]

No! No noticeble change. I don't think it's gotten better or worse.

[rusty rake]

Do you mind if I ask what you did for a living?

[ycipressi]

I worked as a Psychiatric Technician In a State Hospital for the Insane. You can make your own assumtions. But I really think shift workers are more prone to sleep problems than the general public, just my take on it.

Yvonne

[ABC]

'ycipressi' wrote:

I worked as a Psychiatric Technician In a State Hospital for the Insane. You can make your own assumtions. But I really think shift workers are more prone to sleep problems than the general public, just my take on it.

Yvonne

Did you get many insomniacs as patients?! 😀

[ycipressi]

You got a little of everything as patients. Some insomnics, some that never got up out of bed. Some very intelligent and some not so much. When I worked there when I was very young; most of the patients were the garden variety crazy person. But the 60's drug use put a lot more people in jeopardy because of drug experimenting.

Yvonne

[ABC]

To be honest I dont think much has changed in terms of drug experimenting to this very day

[rusty rake]

I thought they had closed down all the state run hospitals for the insane. Did you work there before that happened or have I missed something which is quite likely I have

[ycipressi]

Hi Rusty, actually some new ones have been built in California. Do not know about other states. I now live in Oregon. Many of the hospitals were closed thanks to Ronald Reagan and his ilk. The one I worked in is in Napa CA. Before it became such a big wine attraction it was known for it's Nut House. Not a nice phrase but that's what it was. Before I left in 1994 they were housing some criminally insane. Still trying to push out the mentally ill. Sad state of affairs.

Yvonne

[Tommy ToXen]

I used to be a shift worker, that was partly the reason of my sleeping getting so bad. No set routine etc, plus a lot of the times, when it started getting close to certain times I was too scared to go to sleep so couldn't settle, because usually I'd just start dropping off when the phone would ring and I'd need to go work. That was when I was a care worker, then when I ran a pub it was a similar thing though not really working shifts. I'd be up til 5 AM, by that time too scared to go to sleep cos at 6/7 a lorry would pull into car park, if I tried sleeping during the day one ofhte bar staff would intercom up or there'd be something I'd need to sort.

[rusty rake]

Thank you tommy. Did your sleep get better when your stopped working shifts?

[Tommy ToXen]

I sort of phase in-and-out of Insomnia at the moment. I have weeks where I don't sleep very well, if I sleep at all. Can be up 2-3 nights at a time. Then other nights I'm absolutely shattered and can fall asleep about 8-9 PM and wake up at 2-3 AM.

I don't really say I “suffer” from Insomnia any more, I've come to terms with it and accepted it as part of who I am. If I'm up at night now I just get on with some work or something, I know eventually i'll sleep when absolutely exhausted enough.

But no, sleep has never gotten better, but as martain has said before, this is due to bad sleep hygeine – no set routine or anything of the likes, but like I say, I've pretty much come to terms with it as of late and don't stress about it as much as I used to

[Author]

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