My relationship with coffee has certainly been a rocky one. There have been times where I have been incredibly reliant upon the drink, refusing to skip on something that had been unknowingly integrated into my daily routine. Some would have called me a coffee addict, and it would be hard to disagree; if I decided that I was ‘too busy’ to have a cup, pounding headaches would follow me for the rest of the day. But after about a year of coffee dependence, I realised how damaging this could become, so I decided to cull my coffee addiction. I had become somewhat ‘anti-coffee’, choosing to opt for different drinks in cafés instead. These periods of intense love and hate have led me to a point in which I use coffee in a much healthier way; I view it more as a tool to give me a boost when I need it most. I have always enjoyed indulging in the culture surrounding coffee, and I do believe that coffee itself can be beneficial for your wellbeing when used correctly.
You can’t beat the feeling of sinking into a comfortable chair, whilst relaxing music drifts around you. With a cup of coffee in hand, having deeply engaging conversations with the person sat before you is seemingly effortless. Often, this person is a close friend whom you haven’t seen in a while; yet there are other times in which the conversation flows naturally, even when you are meeting someone for the first time. For me, this is the beauty that coffee culture brings. Sitting in a vibrant café, with a cup in hand, chatting endlessly with one of my friends can almost be a meditative experience. Experiences like these are what sparked my love for coffee, but they are also what began my unfortunate descent into addiction.
We all know that coffee is an effective stimulant, which for many people brings enhanced alertness, along with greater energy levels. In a culture that is obsessed with productivity, many of us decide to use coffee as a tool to increase our output. This is exactly what initially drew me to coffee; on drinking a cup, I would be able to hold some sort of laser-like focus when working on a task. My new-found boost in productivity, combined with the allure of coffee shops which I later discovered, immediately got me hooked. I was obsessed. Quickly developing into an addiction, I soon became reliant on caffeine, requiring a few cups a day to reap the benefits.
Unfortunately, the more coffee you drink, the higher your caffeine tolerance becomes; I continued to increase my coffee intake just so that I could feel ‘normal’. Without my daily dose, I would become sluggish, being dragged around by a persistent headache, along with other coffee withdrawal symptoms. The costs slowly began to outweigh the benefits. Not only in a metaphorical sense, but also in a literal sense; my bank account was wailing from the cost of coffee. I dreaded the feeling of lethargy that crept over me without coffee, so I continued to feed my addiction. It’s funny to think that I initially despised the bitter taste; as a child I would take a sip from my parents’ cups and think “Why would anyone ever drink this?” Now I understood why—it was an addiction. They needed it, just as I now also became reliant on this drink. The flavour and aroma had also grown on me, like ivy wrapped around a building, and I loved it.
Despite my love for coffee, it had to stop, for both my sanity and my finances. My enjoyment of life as well as my productivity was being dictated by this drink. Life felt dull without coffee: hardly a good sign. The addiction had to end; I needed to take back control from this over-reliance—so I decided to stop drinking coffee entirely. At first, the withdrawal symptoms made my life feel like some sort of distorted trance. Although I could still function somewhat normally, I felt everything in black and white. Work felt less engaging, and my mind was plagued with distraction, as well as a never-ending headache. I was tempted by the salvation from these side effects that coffee offered, but I refused to give in. For about a week, the brain fog and headaches persisted, attempting to drag me back to the world of caffeine. However, after the first week, the symptoms slowly but surely began to recede. The headache went away, my general mood improved, and my sluggishness was alleviated. A sense of normality returned to my life. My coffee dependence was no more. I had relinquished the control that coffee had over me.
After having overcome my addiction, there was a period of time in which I avoided coffee altogether. Luckily, I was still able to enjoy cafés and coffee shops, thanks to the variety of drinks that they offer. As a sucker for sweet drinks, I would always go for the chocolate milkshakes. Having been previously dependent on caffeine, I was always wary of an episode of relapse, so for a long while I didn’t even entertain the idea of drinking coffee again. My mindset changed when I finally gave into the temptation to buy a latte; the difference was that this time I was aware of the danger of caffeine addiction. On this occasion, my temptation was fuelled by a period of excessive deadlines at Oxford—I’m sure that many of you understand the struggles of attempting to pump out two or more essays or assignments for a deadline the next day. Thanks to the wondrous effects of coffee, I was successfully able to meet my deadlines. This time, I viewed coffee as a tool to help me push through the intense workload before me.
Seeing coffee in this way, as an aid during hard times, was much more healthy than craving its effects on a daily basis. To stop myself from falling back into dependency, I made sure not to drink coffee over the next few days. Maybe I didn’t have to demonise coffee after all.
Recently, I have been reaping the benefits of using coffee as a temporary boost. Particularly during the days in which it would be difficult to retain my sanity when mountains of work tower over me. In fact, at times I even treat myself to a coffee when simply meeting a friend in a café. But how can I be so sure that I won’t fall backwards into old habits of craving? I’ve made sure that I have at least one day, after a day of caffeine-fuelled action, in which I hold off from drinking coffee. This prevents me from experiencing any withdrawal symptoms, whilst also allowing my caffeine tolerance to remain somewhat stable instead of increasing incrementally after every single drink.
My relationship with coffee has now become quite healthy and sustainable, unlike my previous obsession. Although this method of consuming coffee every few days seems to be beneficial for my own life, it differs between individuals. Some of my friends are self-proclaimed coffee addicts, and they swear by the positive effects that caffeine has on their day-to-day lives. Others, however, seem to have experiences akin to my own; they drink multiple cups a day, yet no longer receive the benefits, whilst being bombarded by withdrawal symptoms on days where they decide to skip on the caffeinated drink. There are also those who refuse to drink caffeine entirely, and seem to be enjoying the fruits of life and productivity, without the involvement of coffee at all. The role that caffeine plays in our lives differs between individuals, because at the end of the day, no two people are exactly the same.
It would be wise to look at the effects of coffee in your own life, taking action accordingly, depending on what would be most valuable to you at this moment. There are some times that are better than others for easing off from a coffee addiction. Nobody wants to be flung around by caffeine withdrawal symptoms during exam season; remember that while it is possible to recover from caffeine dependency, there is going to be a short period of time in which your life may be affected by withdrawal.
As I sip on a cup of coffee whilst writing this piece, I continue to benefit from my moderate caffeine consumption throughout the week. I do think that coffee can have positive effects on your wellbeing, and on your life in general, given that it is used correctly. However, the definition of ‘correctly’ may differ for you. Perhaps after reading this, you will continue drinking several cups a day, or maybe you will decide to never drink coffee ever again. It really does depend on the circumstances in your life, and your current relationship with the drink. I will continue to indulge in coffee throughout my life, although in a much healthier way than before. For now, I can happily say that my relationship with coffee is a healthier one, at least compared to how it was in the past. My love for coffee and the culture surrounding it still remains, albeit I stand by my newfound inclination towards keeping everything in moderation.