TO WRITE: Caffeine and Alcohol
Whether or not you take medicines for your depression or other mental disorder, there are legal substances that may play a big role in your life and health. We know that alcohol abuse can devastate the lives of entire families. But even if your intake is moderate, do alcohol or caffeine affect the way you live?
Students in my writing classes usually have quick and definitive responses and stories about this issue -- usually because they respond differently to these common substances than they did before they became depressed or began taking meds. For some of us, many cups of coffee are needed to get through the day; for others, a sip of tea in the morning will mean a sleepless night. And, while some patients -- and their physicians -- feel they should completely avoid alcohol's potential mood-changing properties, others enjoy an occasional drink without a problem.
Play with this...
Write continuously for 20 minutes about your feelings about caffeine and/or alcohol. Do you use either? Why or why not? Have they affected your life adversely? Has your attitude toward them changed with your depression? And would you like to change your intake patterns for either?
About Me
- Elizabeth Maynard Schaefer, Ph.D.
- My book, WRITING THROUGH THE DARKNESS: EASING YOUR DEPRESSION WITH PAPER AND PEN, was published by Celestial Arts in June 2008. I've been a science journalist, textbook editor and author, poet, memoirist, creative writing instructor and -- sometimes -- a bipolar depressed person, since earning my Ph.D. in biology at Stanford University in 1991. For the past ten years, I've combined my interests in writing and mental health by teaching creative writing to other people with mood disorders in a class meeting at Stanford's Psychiatry Department. I speak on mental health topics, both personal and professional, to a wide variety of groups.
No comments:
Post a Comment