I find caffeine is terrible for anxiety, it elevates heart and makes me grind my teeth, it basically simulates panic...doesn't stop me from drinking it though
in my line of work i have realized that you really need to be social and go out for drinks in order to advance in the corporation. so alcohol is becoming a bigger factor in my life, i drink responsibly but a few months ago i wasn't drinking at all. i feel terrible the day after i drink (depression wise).
i literally know dozens of people that smoke marijuana all day every day and it has no depressive or anxiety related effect. i smoked for years and when i started feeling anxiety, i cannot attribute it directly to marijuana but to being incapable of handling the situations i found myself in, possibly due to being stoned but the heights of panic occurred one year after i had smoking it.
i think you can do whatever you want as long as you do it in moderation. (with the obvious exceptions of crack, heroin etc.. lol) as not doing them to alleviate symptoms of mental health disorders.
Because most of my panic happened in the afternoon or at night, i did not drink coffee after noon, not even decaf which still has 5 mg of caffeine per cup. still less than a cup of tea that has 40 and a cup of regular coffee that has 170. Even green tea has 30 mg.
A person with anxiety should not exceed 300mg in a day. So that is like two cups in the morning. I like coffee especially if I am busy and can handle the buzz. I don't even drink black tea after noon unless I have company that does not drink herbal. I haven't had coffee in more than a month and it was hospital coffee at that but I did sort of enjoy the change.
I have been reading also about panic and alcohol. Did you know that almost fifty percent of the people with panic disorders self medicate with substances. Alcohol being the most common. It too has limits to the amount and when a person should use it. It is worse than caffeine because it is a depressant. Another common substance is Marijuana. With a whole range of side effects, the worst being panic lasting for as much as a month to extremes of a year from the effects of one session. There are stories of people who can attribute the start of their panic to the use of marijuana. Yet I know two people that use it to sleep. This to me smacks too much like using Ativan for the same reason. I suppose if it works it should be fine since it really is an individual choice. My thought here though is if you can get by without it all the better. Recovery is difficult enough without adding to it, whether it be substance abuse or excess coffee. If you love your coffee then take the time to enjoy it just pick the right time to do it.
This is very interesting..I do love my caffeine..I will try to cut back a little on my consumption though.
There is also a very interesting Ask the Expert question and answer in the depression center this month on medication withdrawal that I found very informative..I appreciate the Doctors answers to our questions and the candor he expresses when answering them.
I found this topic to be very helpful. I love coffee but have avoided caffeine for years since I noticed that it was having an increased effect on my anxiety. Even decaf! I suspect that this has more to do with avoidance than physical reactions.
I enjoyed a cup of freshly brewed decaf French Roast this morning and while I did feel a bit of elevated anxiety, the wonderful taste and energy boost far outweighed the negatives.
Now this is an exposure exercise that I can deal with...
what a funny coincidence. I had started drinking decaf coffee a few months back, but fould it to be such a hassle that this morning (way before I read this month's question) to order a regular coffee. So that was my exposure work today. :)
And the answer actually helped me to understand it a bit better.
I do find that the caffeine makes me a bit more jumpy, but I am always so terribly tired (due to full time work and 2 kids under 3) that I need it.
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