You know, it’s one thing when greeting card companies start creating holidays to generate business and we all buy into it. At least a mother or father or Valentine is getting some love in the deal.

But this penchant for our health-care providers and drug companies to drum up “disorders” is a whole other ball of wax. It’s downright scary.

This all hit me because a recurring advertisement on a local radio station is making me crazy. It’s for “shift work disorder.” Seriously?

I’m all for generating business in creative ways, especially in these tough times. By all means, sponsor an offbeat contest, get a celebrity to say your product is terrific, lure me into your store with a coupon. But please, stop short of finding another problem we might have that can be “cured” with some newfangled drug. I’m thinking maybe cancer and Alzheimer's could keep you busy for a while instead.

Shift work disorder certainly isn’t the first thing to come along in this category, but this one really hit me because I know a thing or two about the ramifications of working weird shifts.

When I was growing up my father worked for Conrail and his hours were very sporadic. Often he had to wait for a phone call letting him know when to report to work. There were no cell phones then, so he was stuck in the house. There was no caller ID or call waiting, so we had to stay off the phone (try that with social life-conscious teenagers in the house). In addition, he would often work the night shift and have to sleep during the day. He was a light sleeper, so there was no noise allowed. He frequently missed family functions like graduations or barbecues because he was working, doing a long commute, sleeping or waiting for a call.

But this was what was required for my father to provide for his family and that’s what he did. He undoubtedly got less sleep than most. It was certainly stressful at times. It definitely affected his social life and impacted his family in a myriad of ways.

However, calling those “symptoms” and what he experienced a “disorder” just so companies can sell drugs to take the edge off is a sad commentary on where we are in our relationship to health and medicine. Do a bit of research on this and you’ll find almost all the tips and information on this are on Web sites created and sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Here’s what I learned perusing them:

~ There is no test for diagnosing shift work disorder. (Of course there isn’t.)

~ It is recommended that people with shift work disorder take occasional naps. (Uh, isn’t that the problem? The “when” aspect of sleep? And the inability to actually get to sleep?)

~ One drug site says, “Women who use hormonal birth control may have a higher chance of getting pregnant” while taking it. (A newborn baby will help cure that sleep problem, won’t it?)

~ One site asks, “Does this problem hurt your social, family, or work life?” (Well, duh.)

While my father’s shift work was pretty extreme, I also know something about this personally. The bulk of my career was spent working an alternate shift. From the late 1980s through 2002, I went from sports writer to sports producer, mostly working a 4-12 or later shift. That’s at least five days a week. I loved it because I was passionate about what I was doing, but was it always easy? Of course not. You could almost never make plans in advance. During peak seasons -- like March Madness -- you might have one night off a week. You could spend it with friends, a significant other, visiting your family, watching bad TV, cooking a leisurely dinner – how to choose?

While you’re working, much of the time you’re amped up because your job is to watch a sporting event and convey what transpires in a compelling and accurate manner. Sometimes that meant grabbing a Diet Coke at 10 p.m. when you were crunching deadline. Most times, you sure as heck don’t want to sleep when you get home at 1 or 2 a.m.

Challenging at times, yes. But a disorder? Good grief.

Years ago I recall Bill Maher saying that all the television commercials for drugs made him wonder when we started asking our doctors to prescribe us certain drugs instead of letting them tell us what we needed; I wholeheartedly agree. Do we really want to foster a state of hypochondria in this country? It’s bad enough so many Americans are afraid to actually feel a feeling and it has given rise to an excessive use of anti-depressants.

While working odd shifts, I found one of the benefits was the ability to hit the gym in the late morning, a time when fewer people tend to be there. I think it actually helped me stay healthier. Rarely did I have to drive in rush hour traffic or wait in lines at the bank or post office, so my stress levels weren’t as high as most of the 9-to-5 set.

If shift work doesn’t agree with you and it’s having long-term effects, that’s no joke. Create a transition plan and make a change. You owe it to yourself.

In the meantime, maybe Hallmark can create a holiday celebrating the inability to get duped by drug companies. You could send yourself a card that says, “Congratulations. You’re not a sucker.”

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.