With how many adults work overnight shifts, I was curious about classification surrounding overnight employees.

Upon further research, I found a disorder called the Shift Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD). The Cleveland Clinic defines this as “a circadian rhythm sleep disorder that commonly affects people who work non-traditional hours outside the ‘regular’ 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. workday.” The clinic details SWSD to potentially cause insomnia, the inability or struggle to sleep ‘normally,’ as well as hypersomnia, the inability to stay awake and alert during the day despite having more than an adequate amount of nighttime sleep.

These possible symptoms appear to not have caused detriment to Patrick and Madison’s relationship. Despite their success in thriving within opposite schedules they did talk about feeling pressure regarding interactions with friends. Patrick talks about having what he called “fear of missing out” resulting in a loss of sleep due to a prioritization of social life over sleeping. Patrick does not consider this to be anywhere near a largely prevalent issue in his social life. Despite his circumstances, Patrick has integrated many aspects of his life seamlessly into this nocturnal schedule.

Montana creates a perfect storm for overnight workers to develop SWSD. Between its short daylight hours and low mental health ranking, 50/51 according to Mental Health America, based on rates of low mental health and access to resources, overnight workers face a potentially massive obstacle in terms of mental and social success. As far as Madison and Patrick, both agree on a select few solutions for their dilemma: adaptation to the schedule is necessary and intentionality on quality time is important.

Madison tells me that in their previous living situation, an apartment where the kitchen was in the same room as the living room, she would keep the blinds shut and the lights off and read by flashlight during the day, cooking and moving around quietly so as to not wake Patrick. In parallel, Patrick talks about his attempts at a silent start to his days. Now, they are grateful to be able to co-exist with considerably more ease given their new living space.

Before working at the bakery, Patrick was a reporter for the Bozeman Daily Chronicle newspaper. While discussing differences between being a journalist versus a baker, he mentioned caffeine usage and its effects. Coffee plays a massive part in western work culture. Many offices and workplaces have coffee pots in every section and millions of Americans get coffee on their way to work or during their shifts. “An estimated 154 million adults, or 75% of the US population, aged 20 years or older reported drinking coffee; 49% reported drinking coffee daily.” According to the journal article, coffee drinking is widespread in the United States, but usual intake varies by key demographic and lifestyle factors.

Patrick provides a fascinating insight into the direct comparison of coffee consumption between typical vs overnight hours. “I used to not really drink coffee at all, maybe one or two cups a week,” said Patrick in reference to his caffeine habits while working at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. He does, however, attribute at least a little of this to the quality of coffee at the office. Patrick remembers how he rarely saw the coffee machine in the office being used. This habit changed since his start at the bakery. He now drinks a minimum of a cup a day, sometimes two, and rarely will reach up to four. This change is not unique to Patrick, I did not start drinking coffee consistently until my early shifts started. Caffeine seems to be ingrained within graveyard shifts in general.

Patrick goes on further to claim that during a very busy Thanksgiving “rush week”, he did the “worst thing he’s done to his heart,” which consisted of two Red bulls and a Monster energy