Java Junkie by Nathan Johnson A caffeine-driven tale of addiction and (blissful) failure print article      send to a friend

A bitter white alkaloid, C₈H₁₀N₄O₂, often derived from tea or coffee and used in medicine chiefly as a mild stimulant and to treat certain kinds of headache.

It all started back in high school. Hopelessly cramming for my geometry final, I finally reached for the coffee pot. That night I became a teenage caffeine freak, and I never turned back.

Okay, so perhaps I am exaggerating. But I have been drinking coffee consistently--and hopelessly and happily--for over a decade now.  My early, unpracticed habits included a dishwashing gig at the local café on the pier near the northern California house I grew up in. I would passionately down no less than five cappuccinos before closing time and then wonder why I couldn't sleep.

A moment of clarity

Along the way, my fateful relationship with coffee has taken many turns. Back in June I was finally forced to get my tonsils out. While lying postoperatively and semi-aware on my foldout couch some ten days later, I suddenly had an epiphany; not the earth shattering kind, just a realization that not a drop of espresso had entered my bloodstream since the surgery, and I was feeling just fine.  For one illusive month thereafter, I lived under a false sense of my own quitting power, the result of codeine, that brain numbing liquid that had taken away the pain in my throat and head while I had stopped drinking coffee.  That pain was, of course, caused by caffeine withdrawal.

I quite enjoyed my one-month stint on the coffee wagon.  The most welcomed upside was probably the general sense of peace I felt without caffeine racing through my system.  I appreciated the noticeable lack of jitters normally induced by drinking too much, and the sense of mild desperation when coffee was not around.  But for all the positives I can name, my life seemed a bit less invigorating.

Alas, my newfound lifestyle void of stimulants was a farce.  One day while feeling especially groggy at work, I said to myself "a cup of Joe, why not?" and fell back into the morning caffeine trap. 

Should I quit?

Caffeine, a white alkaloid found in coffee, tea, and soft drinks, is technically a stimulant.  So should I technically feel guilty or worried about my hopeless consumption of this warm, peppy little beverage?  "I don't think there's anything wrong with consuming caffeine in moderation," says Roland Griffiths, MD, a professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. "I do think it's important that people who drink coffee or soft drinks become aware that caffeine really is a mood altering drug, and accord it respect as such," he continues.  In other words, if you're having fits of hysteria and annoying your co-workers to the point where they want to put you in a straight jacket, you may want to consider another beverage. Although I have been known to get a little edgy from time to time, it sounds like I'm in the clear.

Coffee dangers

According to the American Psychiatric Association, my behavior is, at the very least, considered normal, at least in this society. "The use of various substances to modify mood or behavior is generally regarded as normal and acceptable in our society," a recent APA report stated.  "Many people drink coffee or tea for the stimulant effects of caffeine, or engage in the social drinking of alcohol."

But for all my ranting in support of coffee drinking, it should be pointed out that dangers do exist, and the APA does not support unchecked coffee consumption.  As the same APA report plainly states, "when regular use of [coffee or tea] begins to interfere with normal functioning, creating behavioral changes that would be undesirable to people from any cultural background, substance use has turned to substance abuse."

Dr. Griffiths concurs. "If you had a medical condition that was made worse by caffeine you certainly might want to give it up," he explains.  Specifically, if you are pregnant, or if you have one of the following conditions, you may want to trade your coffee cup for a tall glass of water:

• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Panic attacks
• Cardiovascular conditions like tachycardia, palpitations, or arrhythmias
• Gastrointestinal problems

Caffeine nation

After reading the APA's report, I couldn't help but wonder if the abnormal functioning or behavioral change it mentioned might account for the frenetic fervor with which I write nearly unintelligible interoffice e-mails to my co-workers after a triple espresso and 3 cups of Folger's.  They have both given me unapproving looks in the morning.

But I have lots of company. According to the National Coffee Association, the U.S. coffee market is at an all-time high. Some 79% of the adult population drinks coffee.  This figure represents an increase of over one million daily coffee drinkers over the past year, along with another 3 million 'occasional' drinkers.

And that's not all. The NCA's 2000 National Coffee Drinking Trends report unveils a new trend soaked in youthful devotion.  Young adults have now enthusiastically joined their elders in this nation's caffeine-laced morning pastime.  As America's corporate executives grow younger and younger, so too do its coffee drinkers, it appears. With so many alert-and therefore productive--young professionals running around, this country's economic productivity cannot help but benefit.  And this all, of course, plays into the pocketbooks of the coffee industry, further fueling the economy.  As NCA president Robert Nelson so poignantly comments, "given that coffee consumption on a daily basis traditionally has been closely correlated with age.this shift in drinking habits among young adults augurs well for the coffee industry as it enters the new millennium."

And so you see, my coffee habit is not just habit, it's a patriotic gesture. Without young bucks like me downing bottomless pots of coffee, this country may come to a standstill. So blame it on my lack of will, blame it on the Zeitgeist, but in my life's vehicle, Java Joe rides shotgun.

*Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1996