S2

There are many people who can look inward and decide that there is a need for change in one aspect or another.  The readings suggest that there are five stages a person will go through on the path of change or sustaining a behavior (Prochaska & DiClemente,1984).  These stages are precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. Looking at my own self at possible problems is the understanding of caffeine and its effects on my own life. 

            At an early age I never partook in caffeine as other youths had, I enjoy juice, water, or tea.  It was not until I entered into the military and was enrolled in sniper school where I felt the need to utilize caffeine to produce.  In sniper school one of the major components next to shooting was sleep deprivation and being able to still perform.  There were numerous times where they had us up for twenty or more hours and then had us road march 12 to 20 miles to a target that was often 500 meters or more wait until they told us to shoot before the mission was over.  This was always difficult but it was more so when you were waiting to shoot on the account you had to fight sleep because you were laying down for a long period of time.

            Currently I believe that I am on the contemplation stage on the account that I realize caffeine is becoming more of a problem than being helpful.  This is on the account that utilizing caffeine works for a little then there is a crash and then the need for more caffeine is needed.  Next is the understanding that it begins to take more caffeine than it used to for instances when I started it was two shots of expresso and now it is four or five at a time. Lastly I understanding that the motivation needs to come from me versus anyone else including clinicians (Miller & Rollnick, 2013). 

Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational interviewing: Helping people change (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices. (2007). Motivational interviewing. Retrieved from www.nrepp.samhsa.gov

Prochaska, J. O., DiClemente, C. C., & Norcross, J. C. (1992). In search of how people change: Applications to addictive behaviors. American Psychologist, 47(9), 1102–1114.