Rate my Addiction

[Bricu]

1) If I don't have coffee by 10 am, I get a throbbing, painful headache (between one and five on a pain scale)
2) I lose the ability to concentrate on any topic for longer than five minutes.
3) The urge to kill. It rises.

If I get some caffeine:
1) The headache goes away (or diminishes)
2) I can concentrate on things i like
3) No urge to kill. I just hate.

how bad is my addiction?

[Thiyenn]

9/10 Crippling

You Have A Problem
Seek Help

National Drug Information Treatment and Referral Hotline: 1-800-662-HELP

[Denne]

How much sleep and water are you getting on a daily basis? Part of your headaches may be dehydration.

[Aelflaed]

Also, the "urge to kill" part may be just that your morning routine (which includes coffee) got fubar'd, and your brain is in rebellion state. The first two are more likely to be caffeine related, but the last one could just be that you didn't have the morning coffee ritual?

[Bricu]

How much sleep and water are you getting on a daily basis? Part of your headaches may be dehydration.

I try and drink at least 6 cups of water a day--I usually have to wait until i get home.

As for sleep, minimum of 6 hours these days. Lately ,6.5

[Ulthanon]

Oooh, I'll take a stab at this one. =D
Ahem.

According to self-report, Bricu meets adequate requirements for List B, C, and D Criteria for Caffeine Withdrawal. Specifically,
B. Abrupt cessation of caffeine use, or reduction in the amount of caffeine used, closely followed by headache and one (or more) of the following:
B1) Marked fatigue or drowsiness
B2) Marked anxiety or depression

C. The symptoms in Criteria B cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning.

D. The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition (e.g., migraine, viral illness), and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder.

Further information is needed for Criteria A, which is "prolonged daily use of caffeine", but currently all signs point to withdrawal symptoms.

[Bricu]

take your DSM-IVTR and shove it up your ass! Goddamn Mental Health people...

[uthas]

Hahaha. There is a simple solution to this: Cut caffeine out of your diet completely.

Stop cold turkey for a few weeks, until the symptoms go away. Then reintroduce it in far more moderation.

[Fingold]

If crystal meth was good enough for Andre Agassi, then it's good enough for you.

[Aelflaed]

Or don't! >.> then you can be like me, forget that you really shouldn't drink that third glass of sweet tea at dinner, and bounce off the walls until 3am.