Working late, grueling hours when young leads to an increased risk of depression and poor health in middle age. He reveals it a new study driven by Wen-Jui Han, professor at NYUpublished in PLOS One.
The study on 7 thousand people for 30 years
After examining the work schedules and sleep patterns of 7,000 Americans over three decades, scientists found that only a quarter of participants worked regular daytime hours. Participants in the study included individuals aged between 22 and 50, and three-quarters of the sample of American workers surveyed were born in the 1960s.
The impact of night work
Compared to workers with daytime schedules, workers who worked nighttime or rotating shifts when they were younger reported having difficulty sleeping and being more likely to suffer from poor health and depression around age 50. After logging too many hours and embracing the rush culture mentality for decades, at 40, Han’s doctor told her that she had the biological age of a 60-year-old. This prompted her to study whether working long hours could impact long-term health.
France, night work recognized as a risk factor for breast cancer by Tiziana Moriconi 03 April 2023
“Our work today makes us sick and poor,” Han explained. “Work should allow us to accumulate resources, but for many people this doesn’t happen, making them unhappier over time,” Han continued. “I hope the research can provide resources to help people have happy and healthy lives when they are physically exhausted and emotionally drained from their work,” Han added.
The pressure to work harder
“We can say that people voluntarily want to work for a long time, but it’s really not about that,” Han noted. “They perceive that their work culture requires them to work long hours, otherwise they might be penalized,” Han said. In her research, the researcher found that those who sacrificed proper rest for work were statistically more likely to suffer from depression or health problems.
One in three adults doesn’t sleep as much as they should. A decalogue to start sleeping again (at least to try) by Tina Simoniello 29 February 2024
The long-term damage
“When our work becomes a daily stressor, these are the health consequences we can expect to see 30 years later,” Han pointed out. The study may have linked night work and rotating shifts to insufficient sleep and poor health, but failed to find substantial evidence that one directly causes the other. However, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that insufficient sleep can lead to a greater chance of chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and obesity.