Caffeine dependency parallels addiction

Three years ago, I would have been able to say I did not need coffee to function or get through stressful situations.

Those days are just a distant memory.

My addiction to coffee did not start until my junior year in high school when classes became more stressful.

Once waking up in the morning to walk to school proved burdensome, coffee became the perfect solution to guarantee attentiveness throughout the day.

The problem only worsened my senior year after piling on Advanced Placement classes, dedicating time to extracurricular activities and dealing with new struggles at home.

The addiction evolved from small bottles of light coffee to strong, home-brewed coffee, which at least alleviated the financial strain at the time.

Never would I anticipate becoming as dependent on the stimulant as I currently am.

At this point, it seems that coffee is the necessary elixir of life.

In the case of waking up and not having any coffee, my demeanor would be similar to that of a zombie, moping around with eyes half closed and mumbling words faintly.

Without consuming the requisite amount of coffee, my personality is uncharacteristically irritable and grouchy.

Coffee is often a discovery students do not abuse until they enter college.

Faced with a new and usually stressful environment, coffee appears to be the answer to accomplishing all of one's hard tasks without the body giving out from exhaustion.

As it turns out, the effects of caffeine make completing those tasks even harder.

According to a study by researchers at Duke Medical Center, caffeine taken in the morning has effects on the body that persist until bedtime and amplifies stress consistently throughout the day.

Also, caffeine increases blood pressure and heart rate, which is intensified during higher levels of stress during the day.

Whenever people would compare me to a drug addict, I would roll my eyes, assuming it was an outlandish analogy.

After spending a few days without the substance during the recent winter break and experiencing withdrawals resulting in major headaches, however, the connection to a substance abuser seemed reasonable.

Roland Griffiths, a professor of behavioral biology and neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., explains in an article from National Geographic that regular caffeine consumers may use it more to stave off withdrawal symptoms than to simply enjoy the drink.

Of course, other well-known negative effects of coffee include yellowed teeth and increased urination, but more serious side effects include insomnia and the breakdown of tissues around the skeletal muscle.

Avid coffee drinkers can preach about the benefits the drink holds, as I used to, but there is no denying the negative aspect.

What reversed my perception on the subject was the realization that I cannot operate productively without the drug, no matter the level of dedication put in.

I may not be able to quit cold turkey, but I have already begun the process of tapering off caffeine one day at a time.

Alexandra Waite is a staff writer for The Advocate. Contact her at awaite.advocate@gmail.com