

The First World's Biggest Addiction - tejbirwason
http://www.raptitude.com/2014/03/the-first-worlds-biggest-addiction/

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AlisdairO
I take the point (and approve) of the article generally, this quote struck me
as ill-founded:

> Why drink a liquid that costs a fortune and makes you fall down, unless you
> believe there is something seriously wrong with what you would otherwise
> feel like?

Maybe just because it's fun? This almost feels like an appeal to the
naturalistic fallacy.

I'm an infrequent drinker (I drink perhaps 3-4 times a year), but when I do I
get a kick out of it. I access a different state of mind that's extremely fun
to be in. I'm moderately gregarious in general, but after a drink I become
extremely outgoing and confident. I probably wouldn't enjoy being like that
all the time, but it's a great place to be now and again.

The quote seems to imply that one might change one's mind state simply to
escape - which should of course be approached with caution. I just think we
should be careful not to lump that in with changing mind state simply for
_fun_.

~~~
zxcdw
I think the quote refers more to people who use alcohol as a form of escapism.

------
McGuffin
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the juice of coffea that
thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning.
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

------
bryanlarsen
About 10 years ago I kicked my caffeine addiction. Now:

\- the number and intensity of my headaches has reduced substantially

\- I fall asleep in about 5 minutes rather than 120.

\- I wake up without an alarm clock

\- my energy levels throughout the day are regular

\- and if they aren't, I can fix it with a 5 minute nap

\- because I am no longer tolerant towards it, caffeine makes other drugs such
as acetaminophen (aka paracetamol aka Tylenol) and acetyl salicylic acid (aka
aspirin) much more effective.

\- because I am no longer tolerant towards it, caffeine can be used as a
powerful stimulant on the rare occasions when the need of such is a life and
death situation. (aka driving late at night)

Kicking caffeine is _hard_. I recommend quitting gradually rather than going
cold turkey, but even so I had a month of crippling headaches. I took time off
work to do it. (More accurately, I took advantage of unintentional unpaid
leave)

~~~
bmj
How much coffee were you drinking a day? I'm curious, because I kicked the
habit about a month ago [0], and didn't suffer any ill effects. In fact, I
actually felt _really_ good the first few weeks. My habit, though, was
relatively mild--I would, at most, have 3 cups of coffee a day.

[0] I am not 100% caffeine-free. I still drink decaf coffee, and will
occasionally have a cup of green tea during the day.

~~~
bryanlarsen
I didn't drink a lot more caffeine than you. It's hard to say, since I my
sources and timing varied a lot, which may have been part of my problem.

I had a lot of problems with headaches. That's why I quit caffeine, as an
experiment to see if that was the cause.

The worst headaches were on the final week, when I was transitioning from very
little caffeine to no caffeine.

~~~
bmj
Interesting. My wife had similar issues when she stopped drinking coffee, too.
She didn't quit cold turkey, either.

I stopped because I suspected the caffeine was contributed to my border-line
hypertension. While there isn't necessarily a hard link between caffeine
consumption and high blood pressure, I figured it certainly couldn't hurt to
stop drinking so much caffeine each day.

------
khuckzz
There are interesting points made here. Addiction can be (but is not always) a
byproduct of ones dissatisfaction with life and is a very serious problem in
every society.

That said, I think that this is just moral grandstanding. The author purports
that alcohol and coffee (can't he just call them out rather than get cute
about it?) are a means of escape and that escaping is a reflection of one's
dissatisfaction with their current state. This is flawed logic. Why does the
fact that I drink only mean that I am unhappy with my life in an unaltered
state? There are so many other reasons that one might open a beer or brew a
cup, there's no evidence at all (or at least none is presented) that it is
simply a result of believing "there is something seriously wrong with what you
would otherwise feel like?".

Substance abuse is serious and can happen very quickly, often as a result of
personal issues. There's no doubt that you should always be wary of the
reasons why you're drinking but you shouldn't feel guilty about escapism.
Sports, music, art, literature, these are parts of our culture that many see
as the great triumphs of our society and they are all forms of escape in
themselves. I grant you that they do not have the same health effects and
addictive properties that alcohol and caffeine do but that is not really a
point that the author wanted to make in the first place. There's nothing wrong
with wanting to step outside of yourself to enjoy the faculties that being
human and alive allow us to enjoy. Go ahead man, this buds on me.

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hadoukenio
On caffeine addictions, I found Bryan Alexander's "A year without Caffeine"
posts really interesting:

    
    
      http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/04/a-year-without-caffeine/
      http://bryanalexander.org/2013/01/06/a-year-without-caffeine-part-2/

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nemasu
Good read. Except I drink coffee in the morning so I can look at what I've
programmed in the afternoon and not wonder what the heck I was doing. i.e. Not
to avoid an 'uncomfortable' state of mind, just to increase performance. Maybe
that's just the same thing though? idk.

~~~
thret
I agree, morning coffee doesn't seem to apply here. Smoking would be a better
example.

~~~
zxcdw
Strangely enough I started to feel the same with morning tea, until I quit
having any. Now I function "normally" even in the morning and can take a
"boost"(hardly noticeable) if needed as long as it's not more than a few times
per week or so.

It still sucks having nothing to sip on though. Taking a glass of water
instead helps this somewhat.

~~~
cottonseed
There is conflicting evidence the enhancing powers of coffee, but it seems
like it isn't a cognitive enhancer for the kind of activities we're talking
about here, and might even be detrimental (tasks that depend on working
memory), except maybe for 'suboptimal alertness conditions'. So you're
probably better off overall getting a good night sleep and saving coffee for
those times when you can't. -Hi, my name is cottonseed, and I'm a coffee
addict.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182035](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20182035)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_caffeine_on_memory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_caffeine_on_memory)

~~~
jon-wood
> So you're probably better off overall getting a good night sleep and saving
> coffee for those times when you can't.

Such as when you have a 5 week old baby sharing a bedroom with you. I've never
been shy about drinking coffee, but the amount I've consumed in the last month
is terrifying. I'm actually trying to be a bit more sensible about it after a
horrible caffeine comedown recently, which could have competed with those in
my past from far harder substances!

~~~
bryanlarsen
I'm so glad I quit drinking coffee before having kids. Being able to fall
asleep easily at almost any time is a great benefit when you may be woken up
easily at any time!

------
oracle2025
Consuming caffeine reduces my ability to make uncomfortable decisions, and I
use it to numb myself from the consequences. I see that pattern in other
people too. As long as I am in a productive flow, caffeine is not a problem.

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basicallydan
Worth reading to the end. It's not just about coffee, but really about
dependence on things which distract us from uncomfortable moments, and why it
might be worth trying to reduce dependence on these things.

~~~
jkbyc
There's a nice movie that touches the topics of addiction, dependence and
dreams: The Congress (2013):
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821641/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821641/)

~~~
twic
That film is a strange and wonderful thing. And an altogether more serious
work than the reference i came here to give:

[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2225](http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2225)

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thatcherclay
Just as an experiment to see how addicted I was, I stopped drinking coffee for
the past week - was a huge awakening on how dependent I was (both physically
and socially). Some reflections:

\- I probably could not do this if I had to go into an office

\- Headaches went away after day 4

\- After day 4 I felt generally sharper/more motivated

\- I feel much better after workouts

I highly recommend the exercise to others, good way to explore your
limitations.

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petsagouris
This is not about coffee... skim through the article before you comment.

