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BatGuano
Senior Contributor

Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

I use all of these.  We all have that little pick-me-up that gives us a bit of energy or changes our mood.  Sometimes I just drink water, and that works.

Some of the positives come from making a space, taking a break.  Just a time-out where I can relax.

Too much, of course, is to be avoided.  Anyone else have a break-time indulgence?  Chocolate?  Checking in with friends over a cuppa?  Red Bull?

11 REPLIES 11

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

I could survive without coffee....  But why?? 

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

I've never smoked but I do like tea and coffee though coffee doesn't hype me like it does most people.  I had a bad cold earlier in the year and couldn't stand coffee so I started to drink green tea.  Since then I've just kept up the green tea.  Recently I started drinking too much coffee again mainly at work but I can take it or leave it.  I think we all need our so called bad habits and if it's not hurting someone why not.  As a non smoker I say it's a really bad habit and it does hurt people but at the same time I can see, acknowledge and respect that for some people living with mental illness is it a necessary habit at times.  

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

Thanks for your repies, Chemonro and JT.

Man Happy

My tobacco use is by 'chewing' although not much chewing is involved.  I loathe getting 2nd-hand smoke. So this way no-one has to share my habit.

I was interested in kava as a kind of slowdown, the way its traditionally used.  But it was banned from importation except as a medication.  I wanted to prepare and drink kava in the Islander way, but I can only buy the tablets.  It still works but its like taking meds.

I have my small tea and coffee rituals, because they make for a good state of mind. "The tea ceremony is understood and practiced to foster harmony in humanity, promote harmony with nature, discipline the mind, quiet the heart, and attain the purity of enlightenment, the art of tea becomes teaism." -Wikipedia.

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

Hi,

Love the username :-)! and good question.

I've never smoked, but am keen on tea and a cautious coffee drinker. I have PTSD and was told a few years ago when first diagnosed that it would be best to minimise caffeine, sugar and alcohol intake. I found following this made me a little less prone to being triggered, at a time when every bit of help was desperately needed. I also had caffeine poisoning about 30 years ago.

So I allow myself strictly 2 cups of tea in the morning (my wake-up), very ocassionally a third up to about 3pm then no more. I also allow myself a mocha (1/4 strength coffee, 1/2 strength chocolate) about once a week. Much more than that and I get the shakes quite visibly, along with being quite hyper and trouble getting to sleep. I also have no more than one standard drink of alcohol on the rare ocassions I do drink.

Like you (or was it one of the others?) I enjoy green tea, it's quite tasty when you get used to it. I also drink a fair bit of herbal tea (I'm lucky a friend makes her own from home-grown herbs).

Cheers, 

Kristin

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

I used to use all of the above. Chocolate, cigarettes, coffee , tea, red bull, and anything else for a pick-me-up. But as a bipolar sufferer, I have found that the best thing I can do to avoid slipping into manic or depressive periods is to try and maintain a balance.
For me, I try and focus on the chemical or substance I'm ingesting - caffeine, sugar, nicotine and the other stuff in red bull.
I'm in a fairly stable pattern at the moment and balance has been key. I no longer smoke and I am trying to minimise both caffeine and sugar but it is damn hard.
I now have a baby boy so sleep is at a minimum and makes the above more tempting, so it's a vicious cycle.

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

BatGuano was the soldier who shot the Coke vending machine so that the Peter Sellers character could phone the US government to prevent a nuclear strike on Soviet Russia in 'Dr Strangelove'.

The name is a euphemism for batsh*t, and is usually an intensifier of 'crazy'.

Thanks for replying, btw.Smiley Very Happy

Yes, I have an upper limit for caffeine.  One big morning mug and one (maybe) coffee or tea for afternoon.  I used to get hyped on espresso and exercise or just wait it out.  Alcohol was a slowdown for a while, but now I just have to stay off that particular rollercoaster.

 (The magic meds that must not be named) are, unfortunately, what I need to slow down of an evening.  Its like stuffing my skull with cotton wool and I sleep for quite a while but it keeps the anxiety from going into meltdown.

Neurochemicals, what's that all about?  Some I have and some I take, and finding a balance is like rocket science.  But its worth it.Woman Happy

 

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

Hahaha, classic name!
Not sure what the magic meds are batguano but I too have had a stash in the past, and tried various combinations. However my drive was always to get the biggest kick I could. Great when manic but wow, depressive was really not fun.
So....no booze now, no magic, just what my psychiatrist has me on, good amounts of sleep, exercise and a healthy diet all in a decent routine cuts it for me. But it's very hard to keep it maintained. Much easier now that I'm not drinking booze though.

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

Thanks Bond,

The magic meds were just my prescriptions.  I call them magic because in the 50s they were the Wonder Drugs, the future of psychiatry.  Then decades later the side effects were a real problem, so now there are new Wonders, in the epic search for the Next Big Thing.

Lobotomy and ECT were in fashion for a while as a cure-all. Aah, the bad old days.  Oh, and trepanation has a history of thousands of years.  Take it from me, anyone with half a brain would avoid lobotomy.  And I need trepanation like I need a hole in my head.

Re: Tea, coffee, tobacco. The pause that refreshes or a bad idea?

Sex, cigarettes, wine or whiskey for me please!

I've been to councillors over these habits....

Tried to stop over and over

Can't seem to break these habits.
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