Right Amount of Sleep
The amount of sleeping time required by a person varies widely in terms of age differences. An individual’s health and lifestyle also affects one sleep time duration. In the assessment of the required sleep duration per person depends on one’s sleep needs spectrum. Medical professionals have always quoted a sleeping time of around six to eight hours, but it is surprising that there is not an exact amount of sleep required even by people of different age groups. Instead, this duration should be assessed at a personal level in accordance to individual needs and lifestyle. It is also interesting to know that one has to evaluate themselves in order to determine their optimum sleeping time duration.
Another interesting concept is that both long and short sleeping durations may put any individuals at risk. Some of the aspects associated with long sleeping durations are emotional problems like depression and low financial issues. These are among the major distinctive causes of long sleeping times. However, medical researchers provide additional information that supports the two aspects. The first is that individuals having a low financial status are not able to access professional medical care, hence may possess undiagnosed maladies from time to time. This is the only possible explication regarding the relationship of low financial status and inconsistent sleeping durations (NSF).
As much as long sleep durations have not been proved yet to be detrimental to people’s health, short sleeping durations bear critical ramifications health wise. Medical researchers’ records attest to the fact that short hours of four to five of sleeping causes neurobehavioral problems. A survey depicted that those individuals that slept for less than eight hours had a reduced mortality than those sleeping for more hours (NSF). On the other hand, those that slept for longer durations had a greater mortality risk than the short sleepers.
Shift Work Disorder
This topic is one of great interest since there are many that occur under the category of employees known as shift workers; hence they are likely to sustain this Shift Work Disorder. It is important to state that a close estimation of fifteen percent of American workers is either night shift or early morning shift employees. There are also rotating shift workers that are also vulnerable to experiencing sleep disturbances. The majority of those involved in the shift workforce experience insomnia or excessive sleepiness symptoms. It is surprising that even though a shift worker still gets optimum sleeping durations, they will experience the symptoms. This is primarily attributable to the fact that an individual’s internal clock perpetually conveys sleeping signals during the night even after have sufficient sleep during the day (NSF). Coincidentally, many shift jobs require the employee to be alert and make vital decisions. The fact that one is subtly and internally not stable enough to make rational decisions poses a danger accompanying shift work disorders. Research has it this shift disorders may have great contributions to critical health conditions including cardiac diseases and cancer.
There are possible non-medical options in treating shift work disorders. There is need for maintenance of sleep hygiene and adjusting one’s sleeping environment. If these do not offer any kind of assistance in maintaining the symptoms, one should further onto medication. The medication will either increase one’s alertness at work or increase their ease of their daytime sleep. Shift Work Disorder is a condition that one can live with and cope with if maintained well medically.
Works Cited
National Sleep Foundation (NSF). (2013). Web. 14 June 2014. Retrieved from
http://sleepfoundation.org/
