My therapist told me a couple years ago to stop drinking coffee because it makes anxiety worse. But recently I read on an OCD instagram account, that coffee can be a good thing for OCD if you purposefully treat it as an exposure. Because it can make the anxiety worse, drinking coffee with the intention to increase your anxiety and being willing to sit with that anxiety without doing an OCD response can be like doing ERP.
What do y'all think? I was hesitant to try it at first but now I'm rethinking it. Have any of you heard of a similar approach to coffee?
Also, do you have OCD and still drink coffee anyway? If so, do you notice that it makes things worse?
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I have OCD and drink coffee in the morning. It doesn't increase my anxiety. It helps me wake up and be more cheerful in the mornings. People's reaction to caffeine is very individual. If coffee makes you feel good, go ahead & drink it. If it makes you feel lousy, stay away from it. You will know if it's a problem for you. Just try to stay away from it after noon, so it doesn't disrupt your sleep.
I second everything Elisheva99 said. It's an individual thing, and try not to overthink it. I like coffee, and more or less caffeine has never had a noticeable effect on my OCD.
I have OCD and have drunk coffee in the morning my entire life. Because caffeine is a stimulant, and most pharmacological agents used in treating anxiety disorders have some sedating effects, it’s understandable that people worry too much coffee may exacerbate OCD, which is generally thought of as an anxiety disorder. Just don’t drink it to the point that you feel hopped up. As far as exposures go, this is probably very personal and depends on your triggers. There’s nothing about coffee in and of itself that should make it an exposure.
I find that when I have fully-caffeinated coffee, my OCD is worse, but I also felt like I couldn’t completely give up coffee. OCD is hard enough, why take away one of my favorite morning routines too! So, I tried half-caf and it’s just enough caffeine to wake me up, but not enough to kickstart my OCD. If your body is not used to caffeine, it might be hard for you not to get a little jumpy when starting coffee again. I would start with 1/3 tbsp caffeine and 2/3 tbsp decaf, see how you do and then slowly build up to a fully caffeinated cup! This might also be a good way to very very slowly let yourself feel a little bit of coffee induced anxiety and work through it, without making you completely miserable. Hope this helps!
I had this same question when I was going through some of my difficult times. My psychiatrist said a normal amount of coffee ( one or two cups a day) is totally fine, if that’s what my daily routine is.
Hey there! I second everything that has been said in this thread.I don't drink coffee because it makes my anxiety much worse and disrupts my sleep. That's a personal choice vs a fear/obsession and it's in line with my values.
What is in line with your values? Do you enjoy having a cup in the morning? Or do you prefer to not have it at all? It may help to go with what you feel is aligned with what you want.
"with the intention to increase your anxiety and being willing to sit with that anxiety without doing an OCD response can be like doing ERP." ~
Personally, that's absurd. If one's goal is to mitigate stress, only to create more stress out of thin air for new growth possibilities is a stretch in logic. I'd personally prefer to simplify life than creating more challenges. But that just me
But my goal isn't to mitigate stress. My goal is to recover from OCD. Everything I've read and learned about OCD consistently says that avoiding sources of stress only prolongs and amplifies the effects of OCD, and that seeking out situations your OCD finds stressful is the road towards recovery. That's the whole point of the E in ERP -- exposure.
Well then why start and stop with just coffee? ~ Just look at the opportunities for that road to recovery! You could just up and quit your job, try living on the streets. Think of the amazing benefits for just simply sitting with your new stress.
I'm being silly here, but you get the idea. Deal with what's on your plate already. I would think that's where the opportunity for growth lies. Obviously you need to do what's best for you. If you just want to drink coffee, do it. See how it works for you. You don't need to justify it to your or your therapist as some absurd growth opportunity. Cheers!
Hi! When my OCD sort of exploded and I wasn't sleeping, I did cut out all caffeine. With that said, I LOVE coffee and did really miss it. As I got better I realized that I had basically become afraid to have caffeine, so like you mentioned, I did sort of make-shift exposures. I started with matcha (which I also love). Now I drink matcha some days, and decaf coffee some days, and I don't get anxious like I used to if I have caffeine. I have limited it not because I felt it impacted my ocd, but just because I don't want to be addicted to it like I used to be. So I think a thing to ask yourself is if you have become afraid of caffeine like I did. If so, it my be worth adding some back in.
Caffeine is my only recreational drug and I'm not going to give it up! I do restrict myself to two cups a day - and I'm strict about that. I normally have my two cups in the morning. I also drink tea during the day.
I shouldn't treat it either as something to avoid, or as exposure. I like my coffee and tea (and chocolate, which also contains caffeine) so if you enjoy it, go ahead (in moderation, of course).
I believe it’s very individual but I had to stop consuming coffee because it highly stimulates my intrusive thoughts. I love coffee and treat myself to a decaf every day but I just can’t handle caffeinated coffee. I don’t have the same response to green or black tea. Then I am in a full OCD episode, coffee doubles my anxiety, OCD and panic attacks.
For me personally, caffeine/coffee actually helps with my anxiety and OCD. I drink coffee most of the day. The more coffee I get in my system, the more my brain is able to run smoothly enough to get out of anxiety ruts.
To say that anything which is energizing will worsen OCD, because it's an anxiety disorder, is greatly oversimplifying things, in my opinion. The neurochemical underpinnings of OCD are way, way more complex than that. You're just as likely to find that things that make you feel good also ease your OCD.
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