Donuts and Coffee
by Ellen F. Kirschman, Ph. D.
We've received several recent postings on our message board about the challenges of sleeping during the day. One of the hazards of working dog watch is drinking too much coffee and taking too much No-Doz to stay awake at night, and then drinking too much booze or using too many OTC sleeping pills, to sleep during the day. There are a lot of good ideas on the message board about helping your cop get enough sleep and in Dr. Brian Villa's new book on police fatigue (see my message board posting dated February 12, 2001). I would like to add another suggestion that is so basic, it is often overlooked. GIVE UP CAFFEINE.
I gave up caffeine several years ago, right before New Year's Eve. It wasn't a resolution, I never make resolutions. It was the flu, a head pounding, gut wracking virus that laid me low for two weeks. I didn't want to eat, which was just as well, and I didn't want any coffee. That was how I knew I was really sick! As a dedicated coffee drinker I would leave my house in a snowstorm to get a cup of coffee if there were none at home. Something, by the way, that has rarely happened because I keep a supply of gourmet beans on hand, along with a selection of coffee makers, filters, steamers, and grinders. It is my coffee card, not my dance card that is always full.
Having said that in praise of coffee, I should also confess that I have been subject to all the ills that caffeine visits upon dedicated coffee drinkers: indigestion, irregular heart beats, palpitations, insomnia, and a too-short fuse. So when the opportunity arose I thought I'd try doing without. After all, I'd already gone through the predictable withdrawal stages - fuzziness, fatigue, depression and a 2 day pounding headache.
Caffeine is such a potent drug that it would probably require FDA approval if it were discovered today. It acts like any other stimulant - amphetamines for example - in that it provokes the sympathetic nervous system and causes a surge in the release of adrenaline and other hormones leaving the "user" in a state of high energy, mental clarity and euphoria. But, like other drugs, caffeine has a rebound effect and hours later the "user's" energy drops lower than it was to start with, sending him or her off in search of another "fix". Continued use develops into a dependency, which is measured by withdrawal symptoms when the "user" stops or cuts down.
Caffeine toxicity is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental disorders, which is the "penal code" of mental health. This manual warns mental health professionals not to overlook the effects of caffeine and to carefully distinguish a diagnosis of anxiety disorder from a diagnosis of caffeine toxicity because the symptoms of both are similar.
Caffeine has been implicated in coronary heart disease (while this is still unconfirmed and controversial one major study demonstrated that people who drink 5+ cups of coffee per day may be 2 to 3 times more likely to develop heart disease than people who never drink coffee), aggravated premenstrual problems, fibrocystic breast disease, gastro-intestinal disorders, and increased blood pressure.
When people tell me they are having trouble sleeping or feel tense for no apparent reason, I routinely ask them about their intake of caffeine. They are surprised to see how much caffeine they consume, not just from coffee but from other sources: colas, black teas, chocolate, and many over the counter medications such as Extra Strength Excedrin. Even decaffeinated coffee - which by the way tastes exactly like regular coffee - contains a little caffeine.
The rewards of kicking caffeine are many. You won't need a kick start to get going in the morning and you may experience less fatigue at the end of the day (whatever shift you're on). You will sleep better, have less indigestion and perhaps most importantly, experience less tension. Having a longer fuse and a calmer attitude goes a long way in a stressful world.