Caffeine Headache, Part 1

So titled because I'm fairly certain there will be more episodes to this saga.

My love affair with hazelnut coffee? It's backfiring. Because I refuse to act like I am caffeine-dependent or something. But apparently taking a morning off from a bright-and-early cuppa joe is bad news for my neurotransmitters - ouch!

You'll be happy to know that I am NOT giving in. It is much better to ravage my body with a roller-coaster of caffeine than to actually be ADDICTED or something. Although withdrawal effects = diagnostic criterion for substance dependence, soooo...too late?

At least you don't see me on the street corners, hawking ten-page papers to graduate students for a quick fix.

All in all, I am in a very good place, just to update all three of you who rely on the blog to inform you of my well-being. Slightly crazed and unable to stop working, perhaps, but overall this is a good thing. As many of our professors have assured us, there is no such thing as a successful doctoral student who is not just a tad OCD. The correlation between OCD symptoms and graduate school success is probably inverted-u-shaped, though, because at some point it must become debilitating. Although I certainly haven't found that point...yet. No diminishing returns here.

And now, you must excuse me whilst I carry on with my self-abuse.

2 comments:

Scott Pearce said...

I am still shocked at how forceful my caffiene withdrawl headaches can be. I have had to pull off the road more than once to try to recover from not having an afternoon cup of coffee. There is no doubt in my mind that people should monitor their caffiene intake as they would any other drug.

Rebecca said...

i love scott's ultra-serious response to your fairly humorous post.