Stages of Change When Cutting Caffeine
What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and there was no coffee left on planet earth? If you’re anything like me, you would go into a straight panic. As soon as I realized that the thought of no coffee was so terrifying, I realized that the only terrifying part of that was my addiction to caffeine. At the request of a class project, I was asked to give up something that I felt I was “addicted” to. It did not take much more than a few moments before I knew that caffeine was going to be the thing that I gave up.
I contemplated it for awhile trying to justify something else so that I could keep my ever so precious coffee in my life, but ultimately I knew: coffee it was, but not just coffee, all forms of caffeine. The project included giving up caffeine for a total of six weeks. Throughout this journey I kept a daily record of the ways that I was thinking and feeling through this process. Many days consisted of headaches, nausea, and feelings of exhaustion. As I worked through the weeks the physical effects lightened, but the mental cravings still persisted. “I just need one cup of coffee because I am tired and I have a long night ahead of me,” was often a thought that I had to myself. “What will one cup really matter?” was oftentimes another. And let’s be honest, there were a few nights along the way that I “slipped” and had a cup of coffee.
Much to my surprise however, when I did have these few cheat cups of coffee, I never finished them. How could I crave something so strongly, but then not even endure when I gave myself the opportunity? Was it guilt? Was I truly adjusting to life without caffeine?
When looking at change in life, Prohaska and DiClemente created a Stages of Change Model which consists of 6 stages of change. It is important to understand that these stages are not linear and that it is normal to jump around in the stages. This model is simply a guidance of what different stages may look like. Personally, I worked through all 6 stages multiple times, some more than others, throughout my 6 week journey.
Identifying the stage of change you are in
Maybe you don’t feel like you are ready to make such a sacrifice like giving up caffeine, but next time that you’re facing a large change in your life, I want you to recognize the stages of change that you pass through on your own personal journey!
Pre-Contemplation: In this stage you have no intention to change your behaviors. There is denial of a problem existing, and therefore there is no motivation to change.
Since I decided to make this change intentionally, I had already passed through the pre- contemplation stage, however, this was 100% me before I was faced with this assignment. I saw nothing wrong with my consumption, and I had no intention of even decreasing my caffeine intake.
Contemplation: Someone in this stage is able to identify that there may be an issue, but has not yet committed to any change yet. There are lots of hesitations and ambivalence about this stage.
If I am being honest, this was how I was in the beginning of my journey. I knew that I needed to do it for the completion of the assignment, but I was not 100% sold on completely committing to the assignment. I was still trying to find ways out of actually quitting caffeine, yet still being able to complete the written parts of the assignment. I knew that I was going to suffer form a lot of side effects, and I was not quite ready to intentionally bring that suffering upon myself.
Preparation: At this point, the decision has been made that a change needs to occur, and that starts
with coming up with ways to change behaviors.
This is where the journey began. In the beginning I thought I had this master plan where I would start with drinking decaf caffeine in the mornings to give me a placebo affect. While this sounded like a great plan, I was quickly educated that decaf coffee still has small amounts of caffeine in it. I knew that if I was truly going to commit to this that I was going to have to do it the right way. That is when I quickly learned that completely cutting out all caffeine cold turkey was going to be more of a challenge than I had even imagined.
Action: In this stage you take action to change your problematic behaviors. You work to find ways to
change the problematic behaviors that have been addressed, and you put those plans into action.
At this point in my journey I had stopped consuming caffeine completely. I had even cut out all forms of decaf. While the action of not consuming caffeine itself seemed like an easy thing to just decide not to do, it was a VERY difficult thing to stick with. This is where I would start bouncing back into the pre-contemplation stage. I did not see the point in putting myself through the hell that came from this assignment, it was just an assignment. But it wasn’t just an assignment; it was a learning opportunity, it was a chance to sit with my clients and understand their struggles first hand, it was a chance to challenge my own self will!
Fortunately I was able to regain the strength to continue on with the assignment and jump back into the preparation stage. One of the biggest things about making such a large change is giving grace to yourself when you do have those struggles and setbacks.
Maintenance: Maintaining the changes that were made during the action stage make-up the maintenance stage. This is the time where you ensure that the problem behaviors cease to exist.
It took me about 4-5 weeks to confidentially say that I had reached the maintenance stage. This was the time in my journey where I wasn’t always thinking about caffeine, and how I was simply just living without it in my life. Of course I had moments where I craved a coffee, but I was able to quickly redirect my attention and keep my eye on the prize of completing the assignment.
Relapse: After making changes, the person returns to their problematic behaviors in this stage. Relapse
is part of the process when it comes to maintaining change.
Read that last line one more time: Relapse is part of the process when it comes to maintaining change. You are likely not going to be able to quit something you’re addicted to cold turkey and all of a sudden just never consume the substance again, and that’s okay. That is part of giving yourself grace in the process! The important thing is recognizing your relapse and transitioning back into the preparation stage where you can develop a new plan for conquering your sobriety.
When you live in a society where exhausting, spreading yourself too thin, and living off of coffee are “cool” the temptation to consume coffee is everywhere. People all over are making millions off of apparel, mugs, and many other material possessions with witty comments about the need for coffee; and this is not helping the addiction that many suffer from.
When such addiction is encouraged, it’s REALLY hard to choose to give up that particular substance! While I chose to give up caffeine, addiction is found in many more forms such as alcoholism, drugs, and prescription medications. If you feel that you suffer form any form of addiction, here at Resolve we have many counselors who specialize in addiction counseling. There are ways that you can get help and not make this change alone! We can be in this together, what are you waiting for?
Andrea McDonald, Counseling Intern
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