Bright Light Therapy And Finding A Cure For Shift Work Insomnia
Night shift working presents a particular difficulty because, while your body clock may well be functioning quite normally, you want your body to adapt to the unnatural practice of sleeping during daylight hours and remaining awake and alert during the hours of darkness.
The secret here lies in turning day into night and night into day.
Set yourself a strict routine for sleep and stick to it. If possible try to go to bed within an hour or two of finishing a night shift and, during this time, keep out of bright light, especially sunshine.
Some researchers recommend wearing dark glasses on your way home from work and then relaxing with the blinds drawn or the curtains closed at home.
A light snack, rather than a heavy meal, and a warm, but not hot, bath can often help, as can relaxing music or light reading.
Set the conditions in your bedroom just as you would for a normal night of sleep, but be particularly careful to ensure that your bedroom is dark and that you are not going to suffer from the distraction of noise around you.
Light therapy should then be used once you wake up and before you head off to work. Once at work, you should try, as far as is possible, to maintain high levels of light in your working environment. In some cases this can be difficult but, wherever possible, you should try to ensure that you work in a good strong light.
Next >>> Bright Light Therapy and Jet Lag
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The information contained here should NOT be used as a substitute for the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider. The information provided here is for educational and informational purposes only and in no way should be considered as an offering of medical advice.
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