Coffee Cup Stain

There are more serious studies of addiction in our lifetimes than, perhaps, in the history of the human being.  At least in our recorded and observable history.  The new addiction research, when it comes from reliable or at least credible sources, can provide fascinating insights for anyone interested in pursuing recovery.  One of the most difficult challenges for someone beginning recovery from a dangerous substance can come in the form of arguments about addiction in general.  There are some who will maintain that any addiction is negative, which is not hard to argue with, but often they go on to suggest that every addiction is, at root, basically the same, and all addictions can be conquered by the same means.

This becomes perhaps more apparent when looking at the addictive nature of caffeine versus that of alcohol.  It is one of those stereotypes that seems to play out in the world as well, where attendees at an A.A. meeting will be drinking enormous amounts of coffee.  This leads to some arguments that the recovering alcoholic is merely replacing one addiction with another.  The nature of the two substances actually does change the dangers of addiction to either, and perhaps it is an obvious point.  According to the Addiction Science Research and Education Center, neither is inherently dangerous.  Most people can use it safely, because most people tend to use it moderately.  There are percentages of the population for both will cause sleeplessness, so it is up to the individual to decide.

For an alcoholic, however, medical opinions can vary, but there does seem to be an allergic reaction at work, and this means that no amount is safe.  When the allergen enters the body, a trigger is switched on, and the idea of moderation doesn’t seem to matter.   One can certainly abuse caffeine, or use it addictively, regularly surpassing what would be considered a moderate amount.  However, there are very few who might consider researching drug rehab information for coffee drinking, and any rehab center would be suspicious if they took anyone in.  There are probably some caffeine-related deaths every year, but there positively are alcohol-related deaths, and it is possible to drink yourself to death on one, but not the other.  This is entirely important to keep in mind, then, whenever someone might be judging an A.A. meeting for its excessive coffee drinking.  Addicts in early recovery are caught in that choice between life and death, and there is a significant difference between one addictive substance and another.