Pick-me-ups are ways of making ourselves feel better, less tired and lethargic and more able to get on with life.

They may temporarily relieve anxiety and help sleep.

Typical pick-me-ups include:

• Sugar: in various sources; sugary snacks boost the blood sugar level rapidly;
• Caffeine: in coffee, tea, chocolate, coca-cola etc.
• Alcohol: may enhance the mood initially, but in fact is a depressant.
• Solvents: e.g. glue, cleaning fluids, paint, nail polish remover etc. No, I'm not suggesting deliberate ?glue-sniffing' but regular exposure to these products may mean you are unwittingly being affected by them.
• Tobacco: nicotine is a powerful and immediate booster, being extremely rapidly absorbed to give a ?nicotine hit'; many people are unaware that nicotine is more addictive than heroin and much harder to withdraw from; also, most commercial brands of cigarettes contain a wide variety of ?enhancers' which add to the ?hit' to make it more addictive still. (See the film, "The Insider", the true story of a whistle-blower in the cigarette industry: apparently a cigarette is known in the trade as a ?nicotine delivery device')
• Adrenaline: e.g. a workaholic, by consistently overworking, keeps himself ?high' on his body's adrenaline release. Other examples include driving at excessive speeds, gambling, etc.