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Kava Research Opportunity?

Vekta

Vekta

Notorious Lightweight
Review Maestro
I've finally reached the last project for this semester in
my Psych 018 Research method class.  Our
assignment is to make an online survey using LimeSurvey.org. The topic has to
be directly related to some aspect of psychology. I know many of us here use
kava for various reasons, anxiety being one of them.
 My thought was to use this assignment to either A) get a
snapshot of ourselves as an online kava community and see what we’re doing and
how we’re using kava in general. (all anonymous) or B) Think of some way to use
this to get a more detailed idea of what people in general think of kava while
still satisfying the project’s requirements.
 What do you all think? Yay or Nay? I was reading  Adil’s post about the future of kava and it
seems to me it might be a good idea to see what exactly, at least we as a kava
community, can better address for the sake of kava’s future. I just got the assignment yesterday, I'll need to get it approved by the professor. I wanted to run it by everyone to see if you think it could be worthwhile.
 
krunkedout

krunkedout

Kava Lover
Perhaps you could make the survey something about kava and self help? It seems that most people use kava for some ailment or another. I believe this is because our brains make us want to treat it with some kind of substance. And even people who use it purely for recreation, isn't that just another form of self help? Our brains get tired of the mundane state of sobriety so it activates the ideas of self help and self medication, in which case people either drink or smoke or whatever. Kava just happens to be the healthiest and safest form of self help.
 
Vekta

Vekta

Notorious Lightweight
Review Maestro
Only difference is I'd have to ask the professor to help set up a survey exclusively for the Kavalounge. That shouldn't be a big issue though.
 
Paradise Kava

Paradise Kava

Honolulu, HI
Kava Vendor
'A' makes more sense since we know our Kava. Gathering data for 'B' could prove more daunting.

However, I'm up for whichever way we can participate. Cheers V!
 
Vekta

Vekta

Notorious Lightweight
Review Maestro
The professor likes the direction I'm going. The only issue he has with it is he'd prefer if I did a survey investigating some kind of correlation. ( ie. male vs female usage/personality type related to kava usage.) Hmm...not ideal but it's workable. If I did a survey looking for qualitative data he would also be ok with that. If I do the later that means a longer survey because he said it's fine...as long as I have enough qualitative data to make it work.



I want this survey to actually be useful for us so I would like to try and make a survey that actually measures something. If there is anything specific that we'd find useful I'd add it to the list of whatever ideas I come up with before the approval dead line (27th) and see what I can do with it.
 
krunkedout

krunkedout

Kava Lover
Just a thought. Perhaps some good data could come from a survey about alcohol abuse and kava. And what the correlations are. Like does the amount of alcohol increase or decrease while consuming kava regularly, or does the desire to drink increase or decrease, that would e interesting because it would show that it is having some kind of phaycological effect on the brain that reduces the urge to drink.
 
Ed!

Ed!

Kava Enthusiast
I think that's a great idea Krunkedout. You could extend it prescription drugs as well. Try to quantify how much less people are drinking, using prescription drugs, and then maybe include some open ended "what other effects have you noticed in your lifestyle" kinds of things?
 
Vekta

Vekta

Notorious Lightweight
Review Maestro
Krunkedout said:
Just a thought. Perhaps some good data could come from a survey about alcohol abuse and kava. And what the correlations are. Like does the amount of alcohol increase or decrease while consuming kava regularly, or does the desire to drink increase or decrease, that would e interesting because it would show that it is having some kind of phaycological effect on the brain that reduces the urge to drink.
Click to expand...
*face palm* This type of thing is what happened to me when I started using kava...and I totally forgot about it!(smiley: embarassed) I never abused alcohol but kava certainly changed something because I don't even touch the stuff anymore.
That's certainly going near the top of the list.
 
Prince Philip

Prince Philip

Duke of Edinborogu
I gave up alcohol a few months before becoming a Kavasaurus. I have no desire for alcohol. I do, however, experience intense kava cravings from time to time. Less so since I started using kava as an anti-craving agent for kava.



No, dude, seriously. I keep a two jars of kava extract (one of runny honey, one of chunky chocolate), and when I feel a kava craving, I just put a bit under my tongue. I usually don't feel the need for more kava until later. The past few days have been a little rough due to a sore throat. I'm using kava as a menthol/benzocaine substitute.
 
K

kl.pep4848

Kava Curious
i hear what your saying...i too don't crave or drink alchohol as much (almost never now) since i've been on the kava wagon. i quite like it but probably should go to the doc and get my liver tested just in case. Either way, alchohol will kill it anyway, and I find Kava much better than booze. As a matter of fact, all my cravings have gone away to get completely wasted on whatever (blo, booze, weed, benzo's etc).
 
krunkedout

krunkedout

Kava Lover
I can't wait to participate in this project! It will be good to actually have some positive java research instead of FDA research
 
Prince Philip

Prince Philip

Duke of Edinborogu
I never really had a benzodiazapam habit, but when I was first diagnosed with PTSD, I was given ativan as a sleep aid. I was also previously given it as an anti-meltdown drug... a voluntary chemical straightjacket for autism. Based on the warning label, "do not mix with alcohol, as it may increase the effects," I mixed with alcohol, because it was not enough on its own.



After my 2011 car crash, I quit Ativan completely. Ativan works like a "pause" button for me, and the problem with simply pausing a negative emotional maelstrom is eventually it will play out. Kava is a conversation between myself and the roots, with the intercession of John Frum to translate, since I don't speak root. By the end of the conversation, Kava has calmed me down. Unlike Ativan, it's real release of the negative emotions. That being said, there are three types of kava that have made things worse. Paradise's Hawaiian, Shaman, and Kava By Rex's Tongan... although the last one had no ill effects until the last batch, so perhaps it was just too old by then (it had been in the fridge since 2009 or 2010). These negative reactions are always in response to something Elizabeth II is arguing with me or pressuring me to do something. She's a very nice old monarch, really, she's just so damned queenly sometimes when I just wanna krunk-out and do my own thing.
 
K

kl.pep4848

Kava Curious
my wife gets on my ass when i start brewing up a grog...she thinks it's ridiculous, but then I tell her at least i'm not geting shitfaced on booze and craving blo...and that actually makes her even more angry cause she says "why do you have to have anything-why can't you just be normal?" ...she doesn't get it-or maybe I don't...


Having said this, i usually wait until she goes to bed to get my krunk on, that way I don't have to deal with the bullshit.
 
Prince Philip

Prince Philip

Duke of Edinborogu
pep4848('s wife) said:
"why do you have to have anything-why can't you just be normal?"
Click to expand...
From page 6 of "Kava: the Pacific Elixir," considered a holy book by many in the North American branch of the John Frum Movement...

'Few human cultures are unacquainted with psychoactive drugs of some sort.  Reflecting on the consumption of self-administered drugs by laboratory animals, some pharmacologists have concluded that "animal data strongly suggests that from a biological viewpoint drug-seeking behavior is normal" (Schuster, Renault, and Blaine 1979).  Jaffe similarly has noted that "drugs are powerful reinforcers, even in the absence of physical dependance" (1985).  According to Siegel (1989), "there is a natural force that motivates the pursuit of intoxication.  This biological force has found expression throughout history.... It has led to the discovery of many intoxicants, natural and artificial, and to demonstrations of its irrepressible drive" (see also Weil 1972).'

In other words, you and I are biologically normal.  Your wife may be an exception to the rule, but challenge her to go without caffeine, chocolate (theobromine), or cheese (caseomorphine) for a month, and see how she reacts.  Most women I have known are cheese addicts.  Kava has less calories.

BTW, there's more on page 6 and 7 about the human drive to explore new drugs, to seek out new highs and new psychoactive experiences... in short, to boldly dose what no man has dosed before.  Arguing using a book about kava, written by a trio who all use kava, including the world's leading expert on how to grow kava, might not impress your wife.  However, it impresses me.

Another book I might recommend is "Psyche-Delicacies."  It's about the five mind-altering plants that the author believes do more good than harm and are suitable for daily use - chocolate, coffee, kava, red hot chili peppers, and marijuana.
 
krunkedout

krunkedout

Kava Lover
Where do you buy this book? It sounds rather intriguing. Especially since someday I would like to go to Vanuatu to study the plant life, mostly kava.
 
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