Speaker 1: 1:41

Shift work can be brutal, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to a healthy shift. My name is Roger Sutherland, certified nutritionist, veteran law enforcement officer and 24-7 shift worker for almost four decades. Through this podcast, I aim to educate shift workers using evidence-based methods, to not only survive the rigours of shift work, but thrive. My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love. Enjoy today's show G'day, and welcome back to a Healthy Shift Podcast. You know me, I'm Roger Sutherland, and I'm a veteran shift worker and shift work health and wellbeing coach. I've done it for 40 years, so I do have a handle on it, and today's episode is a really important one.

Speaker 1: 2:37

Now, this might feel a little bit uncomfortable for some people or for you to even listen to, but it's a conversation that we just need to have. What I want to do is I want to talk about the decline in mental health that we often see in our shift working community. What can happen when we start using things like alcohol, drugs, pornography or even gambling to help us to cope? Or if you find that you're starting to use things like alcohol or drugs or pornography or even compulsive gambling. It may be a warning sign that you need to actually step out and have a look in Now. I want to be very clear with this to start off with. This is not a judgment. It's about understanding why this happens and how it affects us, and then what there is that we can do about it before it becomes a real spiral out of control. So let's talk about it. First of all, let's talk about why this happens. Shift work puts a real strain on every single part of your life your sleep, your relationships, your hormones, your ability to focus. Your body's totally out of sync with its circadian rhythm. You're constantly tired, your mood is flat and it can literally feel like no one is around you and no one actually gets it or what it's actually like. But nothing could be further from the truth. When that pressure starts to really build up, especially when you are not sleeping properly or your routine is a mess, your mental health can really start to slide. This is one of the main reasons and I can speak quite openly about this. It's one of the main reasons why psychologists and psychiatrists will always ask you about what your sleep is like, and one of the main reasons for this is because once your sleep goes, everything starts to fall apart in a very, very big way. So what we want to do is we really need to start making a concerted effort to focus on that sleep, and if it means stepping away from your job or your work to focus on that, then that's what needs to happen. What actually can start to happen is anxiety can start to creep in. Then your motivation really starts to drop off and it becomes really easy to start to feel completely overwhelmed or actually numb to outside stimulation outside of your life. And trust me, I know exactly what this feeling is like. And when you start feeling like that, you can literally start looking for something to start to take the edge off it for you. Now, this is where it's common for shift workers and this is where that alcohol starts to creep in.

Speaker 1: 5:21

You have a nightcap to just switch off after a shift. How many times do you go home Just going to have a beer, just going to have a wine? Before I go to bed, I'm just going to have a wine. While I cook, I'm just going to have a wine. Before you know, while I'm watching TV, I'll just have another beer. That extra drink or two just starts to feel something a little bit different. Right, it really does.

Speaker 1: 5:45

Then it might be drugs. Now it can be recreational drugs. You might find that you're out there looking to numb yourself or to excite yourself or get that dopamine hit from some form of recreational drug. Now I don't know why they're called recreational drugs. Honestly, I do that just to identify it with you, because they're either illegal or they're not. It's that simple. So it can be something that can help you to sleep, to start off with, or it could be something to get you high or make you feel better. That can be something as well, but what it does is it's, or it can be something to keep you awake while you're at work. Overdosing on caffeine? This is another thing, these high energy drinks that people are consuming as well.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Now the next thing it can be porn as well. It's used to escape all comfort because you're just too mentally drained for any real connection with other people. You just can't be bothered with it. Start to think about that as well. Are you surfing porn, looking at porn and doing things like that where you can't be bothered with other connection because it's just too hard for you? You find guys too hard. You find women too hard, you find people just too hard to be around and it's just much easier to watch it on a video and you can then just turn it off. Have a think about it, because this is something that also happens. The other thing is, too, you start chasing dopamine hits by gambling. You get a rush. It's a distraction for you and it's a moment where you can feel like you're actually in control. But you know as well as I do that you're actually not.

Speaker 1: 7:11

Now, these things don't always start out as a problem. They can be a bit of fun All right, make no bones about it. But they start as a coping mechanism, because you're coping for something else, and that's where you've got to really identify that. But they don't solve anything at all. What they actually do is they mask it and over time they add a whole new layer of stress into your life. They add shame and they also start to severely impact on poor mental health, on top of what you are already carrying Now as a shift worker. You are carrying poor mental health in many, many cases. You've got to exercise it, you've got to look after it. You've got to be doing everything right. You can't afford to be drinking alcohol, taking drugs, surfing porn and gambling, because you're going to compound bigger problems. Compound and add bigger problems to what was the initial problem in the first place. So what does this do to your mental health long-term? So let's be real and let's be brutally honest, and I'm going to be brutally honest with you as well.

Speaker 1: 8:21

While those things are escapes, it actually makes it worse. Your sleep gets even worse with alcohol or drugs in the system and your brain never gets the chance to fully reset. You'll wake up groggy and then you feel like garbage again and your mood crashes all over again, and so you go into that vortex again. Then, the next thing, you start hiding things from people or you start pulling away from the people that you knew, because you start to feel quite embarrassed. You might start to rack up debt or you damage your relationships, these people who are close to you, or even family. You start to damage those relationships because they start calling you out and you start to become really defensive on it, because you reckon you're in control but you're not, or you feel stuck in habits that are now just feels far, far too big to break and, the worst part you start to believe that this is just how life is now.

Speaker 1: 9:15

But it doesn't have to be that way. And here's what I want to say to you, if this all sounds familiar, first of all, listen hard to this. You are not broken, you are not weak, but, more importantly, you're not alone. You are reacting to high high pressure life in the only way that you knew how to at the time. But now, now you have identified this and you get to choose something different. And no, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing massive overhaul overnight. So let's just go through just a few simple strategies that you can actually start to turn this great, big barge of a ship around, so that it can really start to help you and head you back into the right direction.

Speaker 1: 10:08

The first and most important and I mean the most important thing is you've got to tell yourself the truth. The most important thing is you've got to tell yourself the truth when are you really at? What is creeping into your life? A lot too often, that just shouldn't be. You know, and while you've still got a certain portion of that sanity, make sure that you are looking in and looking at that. Get out of those chat groups of the Debbie Downers, because they are doing nothing but causing you grief. Stop reaching out to people all the time and telling them about your problems and issues because they're not interested right?

Speaker 1: 10:44

What you need to do is you need to take responsibility for what you are doing well and start highlighting what you are doing well and how you are going about it. Where are you really at? That's the question. You've got to ask yourself If you're drinking every day, or numbing it with porn, or losing sleep to gambling apps, or relying on a substance to function, name it. That's all you've got to do. Name it. Say this is what I'm doing to yourself. Say it out loud, write it down. Do something. You can't change what you don't acknowledge. You've got to acknowledge it to yourself. You're not hiding it. You've got to acknowledge it to yourself and make it quite clear to you, because you are your own master.

Speaker 1: 11:31

Number two don't try to go cold turkey on everything unless you're in real danger. Now. This can make things worse. So what you want to do is you want awareness first. So name it. Label it. This is what I'm doing, and then start to make small and realistic changes, because that really helps as well Things that you can cope with, call yourself out on your bullshit, but start to make small and realistic change that you can actually make a difference with. Number three is to create one solid habit in your day, something that you can anchor your day with.

Speaker 1: 12:09

I highly highly recommend a morning routine Get up, get out and get going, because this is what's going to reset your circadian health. This is what's going to help your sleep health. This is what's going to get you going in the right direction. The anchor can be a 10 or 15-minute walk in the daylight early in the day. That's all you got to do. You have time for a 10 to 15 minute walk, so I would honestly think I'm going to allocate that 15 minutes and get up and get out and start walking. And you want one hour of phone-free time before bed. Try that, because that melatonin that you need to help you to sleep is actually there if you don't use this blue light into your eye.

Speaker 1: 12:58

Try and have yourself some nutritious food. Go for a better breakfast. Don't go for a whole heap at a greasy spoon on the way home from night shift. Don't whiz by the golden arches or the suva or something like that. Have yourself something decent to eat before you go to bed. You'll feel so much better Now. These things can seem small, but do you know what? You start to feel more capable again, you start to feel like you're putting things in perspective and you are taking back control.

Speaker 1: 13:29

Number four I would highly recommend that you talk to someone Now. I personally started talking to my GP and I think that this is a really, really good place to start to start to build a story around exactly what it is that you are doing and how you are feeling. A GP can refer you to a psychologist or a psychiatrist. I also think that that's an excellent idea as well, because they can help you. If you feel like you're in danger, then you can call a helpline or even a trusted mate. Now remember this you don't have to launch and go deep, diving straight in straight away. Just open the line of conversation and see where it takes.

Speaker 1: 14:10

You Don't have to go to your GP and say, right, I need a double appointment, I'm going to go through everything in life. It's not like that. Just start these conversations and let them feed you in. They're here to listen to you. Your mates are here to listen to you. Your girlfriends are here to listen to you. They will but also question what is it you would want to listen to if you were that person as well? Do you want to listen to all this, debbie Downer, or do you want to hear positivity as well, and things that you're doing? Well, that's the important side. I realize it's incredibly difficult when you're in that position to try and see the positive. You can't, but there is positives in your life. If you start looking for them, trust me, it's right there.

Speaker 1: 14:57

And number five I would also recommend is to reduce what your triggers are. If your phone leads you to gambling or porn, then what you've got to do is you've got to start blocking it or timing it, or you've got to put gambling limits on so that you can't do anything. And if alcohol's in the house, you need to remove it. Or you could do what I've done you can get rid of the alcohol and just replace it with zero alcohol beer or something like that. Now you might think, oh, I can't drink that rubbish, no worries, don't drink it all then. But the alcohol doesn't help you in any way whatsoever and it does cause massive problems. So make the next decision a lot easier for you Now.

Speaker 1: 15:37

Finally, once you've acknowledged, as I've said to you before. Once you've acknowledged what it is that's actually going on, the next thing you've got to do is to give yourself permission to actually take the long road out. This isn't about 100% perfection along the journey. It's just about taking a step in the right direction. Now you may fall flat on your face, but the good thing about that is, you are heading in the right direction. If that's what actually happened, and each step that you are taking away from those harmful coping tools that there is is another step towards freedom and feeling better.

Speaker 1: 16:20

Now I've got something that I need to say to you and it's something that's a bit tough, but it needs to be said because it's really important that you personally understand this and that is no one is coming to fix this for you. It doesn't matter who you talk to, it doesn't matter what they say, it doesn't matter how they go about it or whether they're there or whether they're not. No one is coming to fix this for you. There's no magical day where you just wake up and everything is better again. You have to decide to start, even if it's messy, better again. You have to decide to start, even if it's messy, even if you fall backwards a few times and even if you don't know exactly what to do next. It is still your responsibility and you are an adult.

Speaker 1: 17:04

But here's the good news it also means that you are in control, you can make change, you can feel better and you can get support and you can build a life that doesn't need any form of nothing to survive. I can promise you that that is actually the case. I can tell you, I've come from a really, really dark, very, very miserable place myself, which was caused by impact at work, and I'm back and recovering and helping other people doing what I'm doing now. And this line and this word is the words of me to you you have to take responsibility, because no one's coming to save you and you can't count on anybody else. So if any of this has hit home to you at all today, please take it as your sign, because you're, you are literally not alone, you are absolutely not doomed and you are more than the habits that you've built just to get by.

Speaker 1: 18:05

So start with one step, just one. Just do one tiny little thing. Promise me that you will, and if you're ready for more support, then you know where to find me. You can head over to ahealthyshiftcom, and if you're not ready, then make sure you're part of the Shift Workers Collective, because change is a lot easier when you are not doing it alone. There is a community of people there that can absolutely help you. So thanks for listening to the Healthy Shift podcast. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and stay safe and remember no one's coming. But you can, and I'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released. It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on. If you want to know more about me or work with me, you can go to ahealthyshiftcom. I'll catch you on the next one.