THE STIMULANT TRAP
SHORT TERM FIXES LEAD TO LONG TERM PROBLEMS!
IT COMES IN VARIOUS VERSIONS...
Various versions of the stimulant trap are:
Addictive behaviors
Use of addictive substances
Anxiety caused by the ups and downs and disruption of the body functions
And the effects are:
Destroyed body balance
Destroyed body capabilities
Destroyed metabolism - which leads to all sorts of misbehaviors and further exacerbating problems
Weight gain
Unhappiness, anxiety, adrenaline excess and then exhaustion
Lean body mass depletion
Body organs malfunction
Of course, there are various hormones we can stimulate artificially and get a "hit" from. Rats will keep depressing a lever providing dopamine instead of eating until they starve to death. Human beings will seek "comfort" from food until they balloon up and fall apart, losing their health and happiness and many years of their lives.
Yes, that is human, but it is very, very "unsmart", so I hope readers will look at the problem and refuse to let it continue. And, no, it is not true that it is "hopeless" because the person has tried before (with the wrong strategy and poor information) and it never seems to work out. (This is discussed more deeply in The Skillful Effective Process For Changing - Very Doable. You'll notice that the book I wrote on health required that the approach be very doable, relatively simple, without a willpower battle, with good convenience, and even pleasurable...)
People also misunderstand the concept and have a mythical magical belief in the power of willpower - which often loses, simply because we misunderstand how it works, its limited nature, and what else we need to employ to win out over a strong but stupid lower brain... And then, we go into a cycle of faulting ourselves and get caught up in the fictions we learned as a child and in our society (See 1. Willpower - Its Use And Misuse and 2. No Fault - the latter is a basic understanding that is essential for leading the best life.)
BUT JUST FOR NOW...IT'LL MAKE ME FEEL BETTER
This, of course, is the classic thinking. Short term and largely ignorant of how things work.
If we keep overstimulating a part of our body, or a hormone, we eventually will use it up or damage it in some way.
If we stimulate energy by taking a multi-hour energy drink, we do not get some burst of energy that is safe, with no cost. The good fairy does not step up and provide it out of nowhere.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
When we interfere with the smooth functioning of the body, we are forced to use the body's limited resources by reallocating our body's efforts to the new need and away from its repair functions and other "less urgent" functions of the body (such as our immune system...) - and then we incur the chain of dominoes to malfunctioning. You must understand that we cannot get away without negative impacts if we throw the body out of Homeostatic High Functioning Balance.
Of course, trying to get more energy out of a depleted body is just ignoring the cause and the ultimate solution by curing the cause. The only way back is to rebalance the body and use science and what works to maintain a good, natural supply of energy.
ARE ENERGY DRINKS BAD?
Quoted from the above-linked article: How much would you pay for a drink that promises to revitalize your mind and body, elevate your energy or give you the focus you need to cross every item off your to-do list? Catching a third wind is priceless, which is why energy-drink sales are in the billions each year. But there may be a hidden cost.
As sales skyrocket, so do energy-drink-related emergency room visits: between 2007 and 2011, they doubled from about 10,000 to nearly 21,000 visits. In a recent USC study—which randomly sampled emergency room patients—a third of patients who reported downing energy drinks had adverse reactions ranging from heart palpitations to chest pain to seizures. (The article continues, link to it above.)
THE RULES TO FOLLOW
Except in extreme emergencies where the consequences are severe, you would not use any of the shortcuts to "stimulating" the feelings or energy that you want. Period. End of discussion, as the use of these shortcuts cause too many problems.
Solve the problem with a long term, thought out, rational process.
Do not eat comfort foods (no fried, no added sugars, no refined foods...)
Do not consume anything that will throw your insulin levels into spikes.
Do not take energy drinks, including coffee beyond one cup.
Do not take any substance that will hype you.
Do not allow stress to continue, stop breathe, rest, relax, repair.
