Circadian Dance Essay

A circadian rhythm is a 24 hour process controlled by the brain that controls the high and low points of the bodily functions. There are situations in which the circadian rhythm can be interrupted. For example, irregular sleeping patterns due to shift work. I took this into interest as it highly coincided with my lifestyle as it does with millions of others across the globe. Shift work is a work schedule that may include night shifts, evening shifts, morning shifts and rotating shifts as well. Shift work can cause major disruptions to the circadian rhythm that can affect one’s physical ability and/or psychological state of mind.

One of the times I experienced Shift work was when I used to work at Discount Car Rental. I had many irregular shifts

I became a sufferer of Dysthymia. It is defined as a mild, chronic depression. I became a lot busier than my other friends. While my peers were out socializing and interacting with each other I was either working or sleeping. I cancelled many plans to avoid losing yet another job. However, this resulted in the loss of touch with my closest friends. To avoid depression, it is vital to be around positive people, those whom give off good vibes. However, where I had worked there were many people that were in the same situation that I was in. They all seemed miserable due to the horrible* work schedules. Hence, to help recover from my Dysthymia, I relied on my friends from outside work, whom eventually stopped inviting me to events and social gatherings which led me to become anti-social. I felt completely alone, as my feelings and thoughts were bottled up inside of me and I had no one to express my feelings to.

Drowsiness was another side effect of shift work that consistently bothered me. Due to my irregular shifts at work I was deprived of sleep which made me extremely tired after work so when I got to class I wasn’t able to concentrate or focus properly due to my lack of sleep. There wasn’t much I could do about it either. In my opinion the only way I could’ve changed this was by getting a lot of rest, however if I had done that I wouldn’t have been able to put time into studying and I would’ve done horribly in