Well well well...what do we have here?

Why is is that sometimes the simplest, most unlikely suggestion is the right answer all along? Why is it that an insignificant plight can wreak detrimental consequences?  Coffee.  I love it.  I don't think I bleed blood, I bleed coffee.  For months now I've been agonizing (whining) over this battle with picking.  Sometimes I just wanted to scream about it!  I hated it, but I loved my coffee. My day went something like this:

Wake up at 6:45, shower, get ready for school, make coffee.

Out the door at 7:30, sipping on coffee.

Get to work at 8:00, settle in, sip my coffee, pick at something.

Go to class, finish up my coffee.

Lunchtime, 11:20, find another cup of coffee somewhere, go to next class.

Sit in second class, finish off my coffee and pick at something.

Head to work without any coffee.  Pick at a lot of somethings.

Go home at 16:30, make a cup of coffee, pick at something.

Put Sam to bed around 20:00, watch TV, sip some coffee, pick at something.

Go to bed, dream about coffee.

OK, just kidding about that last part. (Partly) Here is the irony, you ready? Irony: the coffee was the trigger.  Granted, not the underlying cause of the problem, but...I guess it could be best described as the stimulant.  So this begged me to research a little further.  I was not going to blindly accept this depressing phenomenon, I am a Social Work major after all, and I don't always take things at face value.  The SVSU Journal database allowed me to do whatever prying my little heart desired.  What I found, I can't honestly say surprised me.

Association between ADORA2A and DRD2 Polymorphisms and Caffeine-Induced Anxiety

"Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world. In the United States, approximately 61% of the population consume caffeine daily (Dews et al, 1999). The mild psychomotor stimulant effects of caffeine, such as increases in alertness and arousal, are presumed to be the basis for its widespread use. However, at high doses, or in some individuals at moderate doses, caffeine produces anxiety and dysphoria. In particular, some people are sensitive to the anxiogenic effects of caffeine, perhaps because of polymorphisms in the genes that encode receptors where the drug acts. Thus, functional polymorphisms in genes relating to the central actions of caffeine may be related to anxiogenic responses to caffeine."  (Emma Childs, Christa Hohoff, Jurgen Deckert, Ke Xu, Judith Badner, & Harriet De Witt, 2008.)

Considering my above listed schedule, I have classified myself in the "high doses" category of caffeine use! Oh boy, whatever will I do now? Maybe these people are just crazy? Doubtful.  I guess the question is, do I have this gene they are talking about here? No way to know really, but I do know that I will be cutting back (when my lovely husband will let me) on my caffeine intake in the future.  In fact, I might take as bold of a step as to drink decaf!!  OK, so that is a little extreme, but we're talking about my mental health here, remember?  Well faithful reader, if you're out there, I hope you have learned something today! I have! It's not just a rumor or something my hubby and therapist have agreed on, it is actually a statistically significant (learned that definition and how to come to it in my Statistics class today.) result! So it's time to make a change....

P.S. Sorry about the font change and the white highlight....I've been trying to twenty minutes to make it go away, and I eventually just gave up!!!  And do you like my progress????