| Okay. What works for you doesn't work for everyone. My baseline "sober" -- no caffeine, no anything -- is crippling, paralyzing depression. Hiking is my drug of choice, but I need to be hiking all day, nearly every day, for months for it to take action, and that is not compatible with existing in society. Without hiking, and without any other support, then I revert to existing as a pool of dark sludge on a bed all day. I spent years this way before I decided to set aside my pride and accept that having a little help -- caffeine at a minimum -- to be functional is better for my health than any perceived ideas around addiction or "purity". Coffee / caffeine can take me from a non-functional, paralyzing mental disability to being able to move around and have momentum. And yes, there are circumstances that can change where this wouldn't happen and I wouldn't need a support like that: a world-wide revolution resulting in the liberation of all mankind from the dystopian hellscape we are in / plunging ourselves further into would do it. Short of that, I'll stick with a couple cups of coffee a day, thanks. |
Other than quitting the two aforementioned drugs, what helped a lot for me was living in a more evolutionarily consistent way. Especially around nutrition, sunlight, and sleep. I made this the focus of my life for about a year because the alternative was, well, you know about that.
Good luck.