On: The military’s obsession with energy drinks is contributing to PTSD

[mattkrause]

Also the causal direction between say, fatigue and energy drink consumption, is not at all obvious....

[drngdds → mattkrause]

Considering the effect of caffeine on sleep, it's a very small leap to make

[IC4RUS → drngdds]

It actually a fairly large leap, considering that caffeine can impair sleep quality, causing more fatigue or fatigued people could be consuming caffeine to reduce the fatigue.

In many people, both may be happening, so teasing out the direction of causation is difficult.

[andai → IC4RUS]

The two go really well together. I recently quit coffee and started sleeping 10 hours a night. It's hard to get to sleep on time when I've had coffee, but if I get enough sleep, I don't need to have coffee to feel awake.

[wisty → drngdds]

Or people who feel bad but still need to get stuff done may be more likely to drink a lot of energy drinks.

Given the importance of mental health in the military, I'd think it should be enough evidence for some kind of intervention trial though.

[gizmo686 → drngdds]

Except that sleep also has an effect on caffeine consumption.

[raverbashing → mattkrause]

It definitely goes both ways

See what happens when an energy's drink effect wears off

[mattkrause → raverbashing]

Exactly—-and there’s probably a fairly vicious feedback loop too. Tired people reach for caffeine, rebound effects (or mistimed doses) make them even more tired. Lather, rinse, and repeat....

This makes it hard to figure out if the obvious intervention (ban energy drinks) would actually do anything, or if the answer is really more rest—an idea the military has been loathe to adopt in general.