1.) Blum J, Gerber H, Gerhard U, et al. Acute effects of heroin on emotions in heroin-dependent patients. The American journal on addictions. 2013;22(6):598-604. doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.2013.12025.x

Background: A team of researchers did a study on the adverse effects of heroin where they believed that there is a correlation between the feeling of euphoric emotions and people. Based on their clinical observations, researchers have identified a bunch of negative emotion-related signs in the process of drug addiction. Their findings suggest that a person who uses heroin has a high risk of anxiety disorder and withdrawal.

Researchers mention the identification of heroin as part of opioids, but they never stated in their introduction to define what heroin is part of. The reason is that they keep bringing up the word opioids in opioid substitution but fail to explain the origin of opioids.

How I used it: I wanted background knowledge of what heroin is to differentiate from caffeine where they both are the same psychological addictions, but heroin is more extreme than caffeine for my definition argument.

2.)Boppana SH, Peterson M, Du AL, Kutikuppala LVS, Gabriel RA. Caffeine: What Is Its Role in Pain Medicine? Cureus. 2022 Jun 2;14(6):e25603. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25603. PMID: 35795518; PMCID: PMC9250334.

Background: It’s an article about researchers studying the medicinal effects of caffeine in a person’s body. Researchers found out that most people would use caffeine to treat migraine headaches as over-the-counter medications. Their report explains how caffeine works inside a person’s body as soon as one consumes caffeine.

How I used it: I like this research report, which explains the purpose of caffeine, to help me understand why people use this type of substance to alleviate headaches. The fact that we feel physically hurt in our heads is a roundabout way of saying that our brains are the cause of headaches, which would lean towards mental pain.

3.)Çakır ÖK, Ellek N, Salehin N, et al. Protective effect of low dose caffeine on psychological stress and cognitive function. Physiology & behavior. 2017;168:1-10. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.10.010

Background: Researchers in this article wanted to test the effects of caffeine on anxiety-like behaviors or stress conditions. They experimented on rats by giving them a low dose of caffeine to see if the positive effects of caffeine could change the rats’ behavior drastically. Their results approved that the increase in anxiety-like behavior under stress conditions was improved by a small amount of caffeine.

How I used it: This gives me a better understanding of how caffeine can negate negative behaviors like anxiety and stress under small amounts of caffeine. I wanted to claim the effects on people instead of rats, but this test proves that it doesn’t matter how much caffeine to take to reduce stress or anxiety which supports my case.

4.)Carrageta DF, Dias TR, Alves MG, Oliveira PF, Monteiro MP, Silva BM. Anti-obesity potential of natural methylxanthines. Journal of functional foods. 2018;43:84-94. doi:10.1016/j.jff.2018.02.001

Background: This article discusses the problems of obesity where researchers are studying the role of methylxanthine which is the subset of caffeine in food diet. Their findings of methylxanthine can promote lipolysis, a pathway that leads to free fatty acid, and glycerol release which can contribute to weight loss.

How I used it:  Based on my knowledge of caffeine, methylxanthine is the subset of caffeine, and I wanted to know how methylxanthine works well with caffeine when it comes to weight loss. This helps me prove the difference between caffeine being psychological and methylxanthine working as an active compound towards weight loss.

5.)CE Noticias Financieras. What Are the Types of Addictions and How Many Are There? Maybe You Have One and Don’t Know It. English ed. ContentEngine LLC, a Florida limited liability company; 2024.

Background: This news article describes different types of addictions, and how it is affecting a person’s health. It explains each addiction like sex, gambling addiction, and workaholism in a couple of sentences.

How I used it: This article helps me narrow down to identify what caffeine is for my argument about addictions. It also helps me differentiate psychological addiction from chemical and compulsive behaviors where caffeine is not in either of the two categories.

6.)Jain S, Srivastava AS, Verma RP, Maggu G. Caffeine addiction: Need for awareness and research and regulatory measures. Asian journal of psychiatry. 2019;41:73-75. doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2017.01.008

Background: This article discusses the increase in the consumption of caffeine in India towards children. Researchers surveyed 300 Indian students to spread awareness to teachers, parents, and medical practitioners about the health hazards of caffeine.

 How I used it: This real-life example helps me understand the negative effects of caffeine in their personal case reports about a 23-year-old student who uses coffee. This gives me a better understanding of caffeine being a “health hazard” that is linked to stress, and psychological consequences.

7.)Mirza J, Sultana M, Esrafil M, et al. Rapid High-Performance Liquide Chromatographic Method for Quantitative Determination of Caffeine in Different Soft and Energy Drinks Available in Bangladesh. Current research in nutrition and food science. 2021;9(3):1081-1089. doi:10.12944/CRNFSJ.9.3.33

Background: This article is a report about caffeine in soft, and energy drinks by researchers who wanted an internal control system to regularly check the level of caffeine in Bangladeshi. They claim that caffeine is a flavor enhancer that is used as a food additive even though the flavor characteristics of caffeine are bitter. The outcome of their studies is true that soft energy drinks have exceeded the range of the usual amount by the international body and national authorities.

How I used it: I wanted to get some knowledge about energy and soft drinks since both are categorized as caffeinated products. The problem in this article that I didn’t want to use in my research paper is their studies on caffeinated products from their own products, whereas I want to claim all of the products as one.

8.)Prem Community Writer. Understanding Caffeine Addiction and Withdrawal. Athena Information Solutions Pvt. Ltd; 2018.

Background: This article shows a blog post by Dr. Prem, a Community Writer, who summarized a brief explanation of the effects of caffeine addiction, and withdrawals. The doctor briefly described caffeine being addictive, and how difficult it is to quit caffeine. The method that the doctor gave is on how to deal with the effects of caffeine addiction by lowering the intake of drinks. The theory was that a person who drinks 4 cups a day should reduce it to 3 to slowly cut back the amount of caffeine.

How I used it: I wanted another source of background information about the adverse effects, and caffeine. I wanted to clarify that my other sources align with the same conclusion as other research studies. I even wanted to know any other additional information about caffeine that my other sources didn’t mention in their reports

9.)Redmond J. The Dangers of Drug Abuse. National Highlights Inc.; 2017.

Background: This is an eBook by Jodee Redmond where she wanted to spread awareness of drug addiction. She explains the meaning of the words drug abuse and addiction where eventually in her chapters she uses opioids as her main example for her book. Not only that, but Redmond defines what opium is and starts to identify different types of drugs such as heroin, morphine, codeine, and methadone that contain opium itself.

How I used it:  I used this source to understand the definition of drug addiction, and how opioids can affect both physical and mental health. This is also crucial information for my definition of addiction. As for my causal argument, I can enhance my claims that caffeine exclusively targets our mental health rather than our physical health.

10.)Sampaio-Jorge F, Morales AP, Pereira R, Barth T, Ribeiro BG. Caffeine increases performance and leads to a cardioprotective effect during intense exercise in cyclists. Scientific reports. 2021;11(1):24327-13. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-03158-2

Background: The researchers of this article wanted to test their theory to investigate the effects of different amounts of caffeine on athletes’ cardiac systems. Their sample subject to test their theory is cyclists where they are put under a double-blinded test where one takes the placebo, and the other takes a small dose of caffeine. The theory they concluded is valid from the results of cyclists is different from the intake of caffeine which improves physical performance.

How I used it: This helps me identify the opposing side of my argument that caffeine is psychological, not physical. It also strengthens my argument because their studies are like other reports of the use of caffeine in physical activities. They also didn’t include the factor of caffeine affecting the performance of a cyclist’s mind when the effect wears off.