Coffee and Social anxiety don't mix - at all (At least in my experience anyway). For a coffee lover, this is the mother of all problems... and trust me I am a coffee lover. Luckily, I'm also a programmer, so my natural instinct when encountering a problem is to solve it. One way or another.
One thing I've learned over the years though, is that when it comes to SA, problems are rarely solved easily... but it's still worth a shot, right? Of course it is, were talking about coffee here.
Solitude (a familiar old friend.)
The most obvious (and shitty) solution is to drink coffee when we're alone, and only when we're alone. Not ideal, but at least we can still enjoy a hot brew. I guess for some this works, but I want the benefits of caffiene when I'm working - that additional focus is a godsend for us office workers! Well it is until the buzz runs out, and the anxiety kicks in anyway.
Decaf
Another solution is to drink decaf. One problem with this approach, its decaffinated (not to mention the taste). Nothing more to say!
L-theanine
If you've not heard of L-Theanine, it's an amino-acid known to be found in green tea. L-theanine is thought to have anxiolotic properties, and when used with coffee is believed to reduce the anxiety that often accompanies the caffeine buzz. In fact, it's actually thought to synergise with caffiene, producing an enhanced affect.
Now, as a social anxiety sufferer, I rarely need an excuse to take an anxiolotic in the first place. If it's going to make caffiene better, aswell as reducing the associated anxiety, you better believe I'm on board!
My Experiences
I recently bought 100g of L-Theanine and I'm currently experimenting with it. I'm easing myself in slowly, but so far the results seem good.
As mentioned earlier, when I drink coffee I suffer from additional anxiety. I also crash pretty hard and feel jittery for a little while afterwards. What I've noticed for sure at this point is that I no longer feel jittery after the caffeine buzz runs out when using L-Theanine.
I've been putting around 200mg into each cup I drink, just so you're aware. This appears to be the recommended amount.
Ok - so the jitters are gone. But what about social anxiety? Well, as I said I am easing myself in slowly. Thus far I've drank a coffee before walking into town. This is something that only causes mild anxiety for me normally so I thought it would be a good place to start. After a coffee I'd normally expect to feel more on edge, but with L-theanine, I did not. It's anecdotal at best, but it appears to me that L-Theanine does help.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to experiment further - I guess the moment of truth will be drinking coffee at work... the place of no escape! I'll be sure to add further updates when I've experiemented further.
Where to get it
If you're tempted to try L-theanine, be careful where you get it from. It's worth having a search around to find trustworthy sources - try getting other peoples opinions from social websites, such as reddit. I was able to find what seems to be a good product doing just that.
I'll not post a link... I don't want to look like a L-theanine salesman here! Having said that, if you want to drop me a message, I'm more than happy to share it with you.
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