It's official, I'm retarded. Literally, as in to slow, hinder, or impede progress. I seem to have difficulties grasping basic cause and effect relationships in some areas. This is basic conditioning we're working with here, introductary psychology stuff. Dogs and monkeys can do it. Press button A, get food. Press button B, get a shock. Stop pressing button B.
Well, that seems to be too advanced for me to put into practice. I have a pretty good grasp of the theory behind it, but personal practical application seems to still elude me. I keep going through a cycle where I have to stop drinking Barq's Rootbeer (sweet, sweet nectar) because, let's just say it does a number on my digestive system. I stop, pains (etc.) go away. I start again, and in a few days I'm back praying for death. For some reason, I only seem to manage a month or so before I fall off the wagon and am refilling my super insulated 7-11 jug again.
I think the problem is in the reward schedule. If I were to feel like an alien was trying to rip its way out of my chest as soon as I had a drink, I'm sure I would stop very quickly and permanently. But when I have a few days to enjoy my beverage of choice before the pain kicks in, somehow the lesson seems to get lost somewhere along the way.
So, once again I am cutting myself off from Barq's. The really stupid part (oh yeah, it gets worse) is that when I'm "off the bottle", I actually feel better. I drink more water and juice, and I'm not as tired throughout the day. To normal people, a built-in reward system like that would be enough to sustain the new desired behavior. I'll see how long I can make it this time, right after I finish this jug...
Well, that seems to be too advanced for me to put into practice. I have a pretty good grasp of the theory behind it, but personal practical application seems to still elude me. I keep going through a cycle where I have to stop drinking Barq's Rootbeer (sweet, sweet nectar) because, let's just say it does a number on my digestive system. I stop, pains (etc.) go away. I start again, and in a few days I'm back praying for death. For some reason, I only seem to manage a month or so before I fall off the wagon and am refilling my super insulated 7-11 jug again.
I think the problem is in the reward schedule. If I were to feel like an alien was trying to rip its way out of my chest as soon as I had a drink, I'm sure I would stop very quickly and permanently. But when I have a few days to enjoy my beverage of choice before the pain kicks in, somehow the lesson seems to get lost somewhere along the way.
So, once again I am cutting myself off from Barq's. The really stupid part (oh yeah, it gets worse) is that when I'm "off the bottle", I actually feel better. I drink more water and juice, and I'm not as tired throughout the day. To normal people, a built-in reward system like that would be enough to sustain the new desired behavior. I'll see how long I can make it this time, right after I finish this jug...
1 comment:
I have a similar relationship with Dr. Pepper :).
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