[user104658]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Not getting enough sleep is not conductive to good mental health, any mental health professional will tell you that routine, sleep, exercise, fresh air are the foundations of improving mental health



There are numerous studies that indicate working night shifts can affect your physical and mental well being



https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/news/how-...hysical-health

It's working shift patterns that's the problem though; a lot of people who work nights (like nurses) flip back and forward between day and night shifts and that absolutely wrecks your sleep rhythm. It's consistency that matters more than anything else.

In terms of what LT mentioned, SOME people are significantly affected by not getting enough "daytime hours" but 1) it's not everyone and 2) in countries like the UK it's not all that relevant as in summer you'll get plenty of daytime hours even if you get up mid-afternoon, whereas in winter you're going to be awake in the dark a lot either way. In fact waking later in winter is theoretically better for you, because waking up during daylight is the most important part, it's dragging yourself out of bed while it's still pitch dark outside that causes things like seasonal affective disorder (instinctually your body thinks it's the middle of the night and wants to go back to sleep).