[FRIAM] Addiction and depression

[Marcus Daniels]

Caffeine’s (coffee or diet coke) main purpose for me is for motivation.    The more pointless I find a task, the more coffee I need to complete it.   Finding tasks pointless and unenjoyable is of course a symptom of depression, but the more interesting aspect is bootstrapping.    Breaking static friction is sometimes enough.   This is especially true with exercise in the evening.  Caffeine also has a positive impact on physical exertion and the motivation to do it.  Once an effort is started and progress is occurring (physical or mental) then I forget to keep drinking coffee.   I don’t really experience any of the bad side effects people talk about with excessive coffee drinking.  Yes, there is the diuretic effect.   But my blood pressure is low from exercise.  

 

I don’t know if other heavy coffee drinkers experience this one, but there is a clear difference between a short nap and more coffee.   A nap facilitates more use of coffee. 

 

I’d prefer a smartphone knob that would activate my motivational brain centers, e.g. Neuralink.   Ideally it would model when brain rest was needed and suggest optimal work/rest schedules.  

 

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of Frank Wimberly
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2024 8:00 AM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Addiction and depression

 

A connection:  people who may be addicted to coffee are often self-medicating for depression.

 

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz, 
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

 

On Sat, Jun 15, 2024, 8:22 AM Jochen Fromm <jofr at cas-group.net <mailto:jofr at cas-group.net> > wrote:

I was reading a book about addictions (Addictions - A Social Psychological Perspective edited by Catalina E. Kopetz and Carl W. Lejuez, Routledge, 2015) and was wondering if addiction and depression are two extremes on the same spectrum. Addiction is in a sense the opposite of depression: we feel either forced to do something or compelled to do nothing. We either can not stop doing something or can not do anything at all.

 

Rock stars and rich people or their kids often suffer from drug addiction to alcohol or cocaine or other drugs, while ordinary people are more affected from junk food and porn. Junk food is to supper time what porn is to pairing time. They hijack the ancient mechanisms which ensure that we maintain our bodies (by ingesting food) and maintain our species (by having sex). The reward system in our brains is triggered without providing the benefits the rewards were meant to guarantee.

 

What do you think, could you say that addiction and depression are two related phenomena where inbuilt reward mechanism go awry?

 

-J.

 

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