Shiftwork and Mental Health
The Unseen Struggle of Essential Workers
Imagine this: You’ve promised your friends you’d join them for a long-awaited get-together. It’s been months since you’ve seen them, and you know it’ll be great to catch up but you are just not feeling it. You’re exhausted—not just physically, but emotionally. You feel overwhelmed by the idea of getting ready, putting on a smile, and making small talk.
You find yourself often cancelling, telling your friends you’re “too busy,” when really, you just don’t have it in you. You can’t remember the last time you genuinely felt excited about anything. This lack of energy, this feeling that you’re not quite yourself, has been creeping in for a while.
Shift workers know this feeling all too well. Research shows that compared to day-shift workers, shift workers are 30% more likely to experience poor mental health. The situation is even more serious for women, who face a 70% higher risk of depression than their day-shift counterparts(Shiftwork mental health).
Why Shift Work Takes a Toll on Mental Health
Working irregular hours does more than just mess with your sleep—it disrupts the rhythm of your entire life. Shift work alters your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to rest, maintain relationships, and find any kind of balance. Sleep deprivation becomes a constant companion, and eventually, the exhaustion spills over into every area of your life.
Research shows that adults need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, but shift workers often get much less, leading to chronic sleep deprivation. Studies have found that people who sleep less than 6 hours per night are twice as likely to experience mental distress, such as anxiety and depression(Shiftwork mental health). When you’re constantly tired, it becomes harder to manage stress, emotions, and even decision-making.
You start to lose interest in the things you once loved. Social events feel like obligations, not opportunities. And the emotional toll of constantly feeling “off” starts to add up, leading to anxiety, irritability, or even depression.
For women, the burden is often heavier. Juggling work, caregiving responsibilities, fluctuations in hormones and managing a household, all while working non-traditional hours can feel overwhelming. The societal pressure to “do it all” leaves little room to prioritize mental health, and it’s no surprise that many female shift workers report higher levels of emotional fatigue and burnout.
Mental Health Support Is Out of Reach for Many
Here’s the hard truth: while many companies offer mental health resources, they often don’t go far enough to truly help shift workers. Even when therapy is covered under insurance, the costs can still be overwhelming. Deductibles alone can be hefty, and when you factor in several sessions a month, it adds up quickly.
For someone already struggling to make ends meet, this means they’re often forced to make an impossible choice: prioritize their mental health or put food on the table. For many shift workers, who are often living paycheck to paycheck, mental health care becomes a luxury they simply can’t afford.
And while mental health apps and virtual counseling might seem like a solution, they often come with subscription fees that, again, add up to $100 or more each month. It’s a price many can’t pay, especially when their mental health concerns require ongoing support, not just a quick fix.
The reality is that the system is stacked against shift workers who need mental health care the most. They’re working the hours others won’t, often under stressful conditions, but when it comes time to take care of themselves, the resources are either too expensive or inaccessible.
Mental Health, Diet, and the Struggles Shift Workers Face
While broccoli won’t cure mental health disorders, we know that poor nutrition can absolutely make symptoms worse. Diet plays a significant role in how we feel, think, and function. For shift workers who are already juggling sleep deprivation, stress, and irregular hours, nutrition often falls to the bottom of the priority list. Skipping meals, grabbing fast food, or relying on vending machine snacks and caffeine becomes the norm—not because they want to, but because they’re pressed for time.
The problem is that an improper diet—high in processed foods, sugar, caffeine, and empty calories—can exacerbate symptoms of anxiety, irritability, and depression. Lack of nutrient-dense meals can leave shift workers feeling even more depleted, further compounding their mental health challenges.
This is where employers can make a real difference. Offering meal services, or partnering with local meal delivery services that provide healthy, nutrient-rich options, can be a game-changer for shift workers. It’s not just about convenience; it’s about giving employees access to food that fuels both their body and mind. Some simple but effective steps could include:
Discounted Meal Delivery Services: Partnering with a local meal delivery company to offer discounted, pre-made, healthy meals for employees can help ensure they get the nutrients they need—even when they’re crunched for time.
On-Site Healthy Meals: Offering nutritious meals or snacks on-site can make it easier for workers to choose healthier options rather than relying on fast food or vending machines during late shifts.
Nutrition Stations or Services: Organizing monthly smoothie stations where employees can learn to make quick, delicious, and nutrient-dense smoothies, or hosting cooking classes focused on creating fast, nutritious meals for time-strapped workers.
Ongoing Education: Many people understand the importance of healthy eating, but it’s easy to be confused about what “healthy” actually looks like. There’s also a common misconception that healthy food is expensive, tasteless, or too time-consuming to prepare. Hosting educational events that dispel these myths and show employees how accessible healthy eating can be will empower them to make better choices.
By making nutritious meals accessible and affordable, employers aren’t just supporting physical health—they’re also contributing to better mental health outcomes. A balanced diet can help stabilize mood, improve focus, and reduce the mental and physical fatigue that so many shift workers experience.
Normalizing Mental Health: It’s Time to Bring It Into the Light
Here’s something we need to talk about: why is it that we prioritize our physical health, focusing on our heart, blood pressure, and other chronic conditions, but still keep mental health in the shadows? We openly discuss taking care of our bodies, yet when it comes to our minds, the conversation often stalls.
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Our brain is an organ that needs care, just like the heart, liver, or lungs. Ignoring mental health or treating it as less urgent only pushes people further into the dark. It’s time we normalize talking about mental health, seeking help when we need it, and treating it with the same level of seriousness and compassion as we do other health conditions.
Shift workers, especially, should have access to support without stigma. Employers can play a pivotal role in normalizing mental health by creating open, supportive environments where seeking help is encouraged, not hidden.
What Needs to Change
To truly support shift workers, we need to rethink how mental health care is offered:
Affordable Care: Mental health support needs to be affordable, plain and simple. This means more than just covering a portion of therapy costs; it means providing subsidies that make counseling and other mental health services a realistic option for those with tight budgets.
Flexible Options: Offering flexible hours for counseling and accessible mental health apps can help, but only if they’re affordable. Companies need to step in to reduce the financial burden and offer services at little to no cost for employees already stretched thin.
Support Through Nutrition: Employers can also support their workers’ mental health through diet by making healthy, nutrient-rich meals readily available. Partnering with local meal services or providing discounts on meal delivery can be a small but impactful way to help employees manage both their physical and mental health needs.
Normalize Mental Health Conversations: Make mental health as routine as discussing physical health. By talking about mental health openly and regularly, employers can foster a culture where seeking help is seen as a strength, not a weakness.
The Bottom Line
Shift workers are essential, but their mental health is often overlooked. It’s time for employers to step up and provide real, meaningful support that goes beyond an annual wellness fair. By offering affordable and accessible mental health resources, practical solutions like meal services, and normalizing mental health conversations, companies can help shift workers not just survive, but thrive.
Let’s talk about how we can make that happen.
