FIFO Mental Health: 7 Signs the Lifestyle Is Starting to Take a Toll
FIFO can be a great opportunity.
The money can be good. You can have blocks of time at home instead of working five days every week. It can help you pay off a mortgage, support your family or get financially ahead much faster than you might in another job.
But there can also be another side to FIFO that isn't always talked about.
Long shifts. Broken sleep. Missing home. Relationship pressure. Living with the same people you work with. Feeling exhausted when you finally get home. Then, just as you start feeling normal again, it's almost time to go back.
For some people, it works.
For others, the lifestyle can gradually start taking more out of them than they realise.
Australian research into FIFO workers has identified psychological distress, sleep problems, loneliness, missing family, relationship pressures, long shifts and a lack of control at work among the issues affecting worker wellbeing.
The problem is that you don't necessarily wake up one morning and think:
“FIFO is affecting my mental health.”
Often it creeps up gradually.
Here are seven signs worth paying attention to.
1. You're Exhausted — Even When You're Back on R&R
Being tired at the end of a 12-hour shift isn't unusual.
The bigger concern is when it starts feeling as though you never completely recover.
You get home and spend the first few days exhausted.
Your sleep might be all over the place after changing from night shift or early starts. You sleep longer but don't necessarily feel refreshed. You might find yourself sleeping half the day, sitting around with no energy, or feeling as though your R&R disappears before you've properly recovered.
Then your body clock finally begins adjusting to home life...
and it's almost time to go back.
Sleep and fatigue aren't minor FIFO issues.
Australian research has found FIFO workers can experience significantly shorter and poorer-quality sleep during on-shift periods than when they're home.
And when your sleep is consistently poor, it can affect much more than how tired you feel.
It can influence your concentration, patience, motivation, mood and ability to manage stress.
If you're constantly saying:
“I'm just tired.”
it's worth asking whether tiredness has become your normal.
2. You're More Irritable With the People You Actually Want to Be Home For
You've spent two weeks wanting to get home.
Then you arrive...
and everyone annoys you.
The kids are loud.
Your partner asks you something and you snap.
There's stuff that needs doing around the house.
People want to see you.
Your partner wants to talk.
And instead of enjoying being home, part of you just wants everyone to leave you alone.
This can be confusing for both sides.
Your partner may be thinking:
“You've been away for two weeks and now you're finally home, but you don't want anything to do with us.”
Meanwhile, you may simply feel mentally and physically drained.
Sometimes irritability is one of the first signs that stress, fatigue or anxiety is building.
It's particularly worth noticing if the people closest to you start saying:
“You're different when you come home from site.”
3. Your Relationship Feels Like Two Separate Lives
Relationships can be one of the hardest parts of FIFO.
While you're away, your partner develops their own routine.
They're dealing with work, children, school, appointments, bills, problems around the house and everyday decisions without you physically there.
Meanwhile, you're living an entirely different life.
Work. Camp. Dinner. Room. Sleep. Repeat.
Then you come home and two separate routines suddenly have to become one again.
You may want to take over.
Your partner may feel you've disrupted the system they've spent two weeks running.
You may want rest.
They may desperately need a break.
You may feel:
“I've just worked 14 days straight.”
They may feel:
“I've just managed everything here by myself for 14 days.”
Neither person necessarily has to be wrong.
Research involving Australian FIFO workers and their partners has described psychological distance, communication problems and difficulty moving between the separate roles of site life and home life.
If every R&R starts with an argument, several days of adjustment, a short period where things feel good and then another separation, FIFO can start putting significant pressure on the relationship.
Struggling With the FIFO/Home Balance?
LEARN MORE ABOUT FIFO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
4. You're Drinking More Than You Used To
For some FIFO workers, alcohol becomes part of switching off.
Maybe it's drinks with the crew.
Maybe it's drinking when you get home.
Maybe you've started looking forward to alcohol as the point where your brain finally stops thinking about work.
That doesn't automatically mean someone has an alcohol problem.
But it's worth paying attention when:
you need alcohol to relax
the amount you're drinking has gradually increased
you're drinking heavily during R&R
your partner has commented on it
you're drinking because you're stressed, lonely, bored or unable to sleep
cutting back is harder than you expected
Australian FIFO research has found high levels of alcohol consumption among workers, with one study finding risky drinking was more common during off-shift periods than on-shift periods.
Alcohol can also become part of a bigger cycle:
Stress → drink → temporary relief → poorer sleep/mood → more stress → drink again.
The same principle applies to other behaviours that gradually become ways of escaping or switching off — gambling, smoking, vaping, food or spending.
The question isn't simply:
“Do I drink?”
It's:
“What am I using this for?”
5. You Feel Lonely — Even Though You're Surrounded by People
FIFO loneliness can be strange.
You might work around hundreds of people every day.
You eat with people.
You travel with people.
You live in a camp full of people.
And still feel completely isolated.
Being around people isn't the same as feeling connected to them.
Sometimes you're deliberately keeping your problems to yourself because you don't want them becoming workplace conversation.
Maybe you're the supervisor and feel like you're supposed to have everything together.
Maybe you don't trust the employer's mental-health system.
Maybe you're worried about being judged.
Or maybe you've simply become good at saying:
“Yeah mate, all good.”
even when you're not.
Australian FIFO research has repeatedly identified missing family, homesickness, loneliness and isolation as important issues for workers.
And when you spend weeks repeatedly separated from your normal support network, those feelings can accumulate.
6. You're Starting to Dread Going Back to Site
There's a difference between:
“I'd rather stay home than go to work.”
and feeling genuinely anxious as fly-out approaches.
For some workers it begins several days beforehand.
You start counting down.
Your sleep changes.
You become irritable.
Your stomach feels unsettled.
You start thinking about the people or problems waiting for you.
Maybe you're worried about another run of night shifts.
Maybe something happened on the previous swing.
Maybe you're struggling with someone at work.
Maybe you simply don't want to leave your partner or children again.
The frustrating part is that the anxiety can start while you're still at home.
So instead of enjoying your final days of R&R, mentally you're already back at work.
If you're home for seven days but spend the last three worrying about going back, FIFO has effectively taken those days from you as well.
That's something worth addressing rather than simply accepting as part of the job.
7. You're Starting to Feel Trapped by the Money
This is one of the less obvious FIFO mental-health pressures.
You don't necessarily hate your job.
But you're no longer sure you want the lifestyle.
Then you look at the mortgage.
School fees.
Cars.
Bills.
Investment properties.
The lifestyle your family has become accustomed to.
And think:
“What else am I going to do that pays this?”
Researchers studying FIFO families have described this as a form of “golden handcuffs” — workers feeling financially locked into a lifestyle that they may no longer want.
That feeling of having no choice can be important psychologically.
There's a big difference between:
“I choose to do FIFO because it works for us.”
and:
“I can't leave even if I want to.”
If you've started feeling trapped, burned out or constantly asking yourself how many more years you can do it, that's worth paying attention to.
FIFO Mental Health Isn't Just About Depression
One of the mistakes we make when talking about mental health is waiting until somebody has a diagnosis before deciding they need support.
FIFO mental health can show up much earlier as:
poor sleep
exhaustion
irritability
overthinking
anxiety
relationship conflict
loneliness
drinking more
gambling
emotional withdrawal
losing motivation
feeling flat
difficulty switching between site and home
dreading another swing
feeling trapped by the lifestyle
You don't necessarily need to wait until everything falls apart before doing something about it.
What Can You Do If FIFO Is Starting to Affect You?
The first step is identifying which part of FIFO is actually causing the biggest problem.
Don't simply tell yourself:
“FIFO is stressful.”
Be more specific.
Is it your sleep?
Your roster?
Your relationship?
Leaving your children?
A particular person at work?
An incident that happened on site?
Loneliness?
Alcohol?
The transition between site and home?
Feeling trapped financially?
Anxiety about going back?
Because those are different problems — and they may require different solutions.
For example, somebody whose biggest problem is adjusting after night shift doesn't necessarily need the same support as somebody experiencing trauma after witnessing a serious workplace accident.
Likewise, someone whose relationship is deteriorating may need to work on communication, resentment and reconnection rather than simply being told to “manage stress”.
Understanding what is actually driving the problem gives you somewhere to start.
Confidential FIFO Mental Health Support — Independent of Your Employer
One concern some FIFO workers have about seeking help is:
“I don't want work knowing about it.”
At Get Right Therapy, we provide private support directly to FIFO, DIDO and mining workers. You don't need to go through your employer or workplace EAP to contact us.
We work with people experiencing issues including:
anxiety, stress, sleep problems, burnout, trauma, relationship difficulties, anger, alcohol, gambling, smoking/vaping, confidence and difficulty switching between site and home life.
Depending on the individual and what they're experiencing, our approach can incorporate clinical hypnotherapy, EMDR and other therapeutic techniques.
Sessions can be conducted online Australia-wide, which means support can continue whether you're at home, on R&R or in a suitable private location while working away.
Learn More About FIFO Mental Health Support
FIFO MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT AUSTRALIA
You Don't Need to Wait Until You're at Breaking Point
FIFO can provide opportunities that are difficult to get elsewhere.
The goal isn't necessarily to convince you to leave the industry.
For many workers, the goal is to make the lifestyle more sustainable — to sleep better, manage stress differently, be more present when they're home, protect their relationships and stop carrying site around in their head when they're supposed to be on R&R.
If you've noticed yourself in several of the signs above, it may be worth having a confidential conversation about what's happening.
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If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 000. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or need crisis support in Australia, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
