Coffee linked to hallucinations

by Paul Conneally | January 15, 2009 at 02:24 pm

1116 views | 50 Recommendations | 15 comments

Most people know that the caffeine in coffee increases heart rate and keeps one awake as it is a stimulant drug but this latest research links drinking over three cups of coffee a day to hallucinations including hearing voices, seeing visions and smelling things that aren't there.

Rather than suggesting that people in general should refrain from drinking coffee in case they get hallucinations scientists are concentrating their efforts on working with patients already suffering psychosis to see if reducing the imtake of certain foods such as coffee might reduce their psychotic episodes instead of having to use medication.

These are symptoms of psychosis and it could be that coffee could cause or trigger certain types of mental illness in some people.

People who consume coffee and other caffeinated products are more likely to have hallucinations, according to a study published today.

The more caffeine students had, the more likely they were to hear voices, smell things and see things that were not there, researchers at Durham University found. They suggested that increased levels of the hormone cortisol caused by caffeine could be behind the link.

Although caffeine found in coffee, tea and chocolate can cause heart palpitations, there is patchy evidence of a relationship to psychotic behaviour such as schizophrenia.

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siliconmonkey

at 15:21 on January 15th, 2009

Delicious, delicious coffee.

siliconmonkey has contributed a photo to this story.

dr.dark

at 15:29 on January 15th, 2009

Yeah, coffee is good for me ;)

Mind Spirit Camera

at 17:06 on January 15th, 2009

There is a wonderful coffee shop in my home town, and it when it was placed before me it just looked like a work of art. I had my camera in tow and went to work.

I like to write, so maybe my coffee hallucinations can be "productive."

Thanks.

Mind Spirit Camera has contributed a photo to this story.

kojo_46

at 12:27 on January 17th, 2009

Our family favorites are almost always a Costa Rican Arabica variety of dark brewed coffee. No as to hallucinations from coffee let's get a bit of science. A lot of rash statements seem to be made without any evidence.

kojo_46 has contributed a photo to this story.

158

at 19:08 on January 15th, 2009

I don't believe this. I do not hallucinate.

I can clearly see the pink elephants in the picture you posted and I am on my 6th cup of coffee of the day with 4 more to go.

Mary Richard

at 19:19 on January 15th, 2009

Dont't forget the ghosts .. BBC mentions ghosts along with the voices!

158

at 19:50 on January 15th, 2009

Sorry I can't read your comment. A shapeless white something just floated in front of my computer and there are things in my walls telling me to leave.

Amy Judd

at 20:14 on January 15th, 2009

I don't think I've ever had a hallucination... now I'm not sure!

Tavi

at 01:55 on January 16th, 2009

I'm going to have a look at that study. Sounds off to me. The only reason I would think coffee could cause hallucinations is if someone did not sleep or if they were already a bit loose. Perhaps people who hallucinate tend to drink coffee. That would seem more likely than than coffee having a causative phsychotomimetic effect. Being that these were students perhaps they are not getting much sleep or are using caffeine to battle their hangover after a long bender with alcohol, MDMA and DMT.

Perhaps I should just read the study and stop making assumptions.

Edit: Okay, I just read it. This study has no controls and essentially just a random survey of students which makes any causative correlation finding invalid. Leave coffee alone please. It does more good than harm for most consumers.

Paul Conneally

at 03:13 on January 16th, 2009

I think that (as I tried to indicate in the intro) that you are right in that people who already have some psychotic behaviour or symptoms might be encouraged to drink less coffee and use less other foods too in that it could lesson their episodes - rather than saying "drinking coffee makes you hallucinate" - thanks for the comment.

ian-m5j21

at 04:33 on January 16th, 2009

This story touched a chord with me. Hallucinations are very very disconcerting, and can be extremely frightening, though below a certain level of occurrence you can learn to live with them. I only drink one cup of coffee a day: This is a photo of that cup being brewed(Costa Rican Beans). Also, just yesterday, I read in a newspaper that a 'study' found that drinking up to five cups of coffee a day cuts the risk of Alzheimer's. Pay your money, make a choice...

ian-m5j21 has contributed a photo to this story.

lefty_liberated

at 05:35 on January 16th, 2009

no wonder i like it :D :P

P.S. My ex boyfriend used to drink coffee and get all worked up and act nuts so I think there's some definite validity to the story.

Bikini-Hotline

at 01:28 on January 17th, 2009

Perhaps coffee can somehow be linked to hallucinogenic patterns, although I haven't seen or heard of a study that proves this. My better judgement tells me, NOT. I have just done some reseach myself and found that there are considerable health benefits to coffee unless you are a cigarette smoker or require hormone therapy due to feminine middle-age circumstances. Truly, everything in moderation.

mazevedo

at 14:13 on January 17th, 2009

Pretty intense!

kate 538 (not verified)

at 10:12 on January 20th, 2009

this is pretty silly... seems like all they did was survey their own students, which is hardly a good study method. I haven't been drinking coffee for a while because I found these great energy patches that are slower release and have b-vitamins, but even when I did drink loads of coffee i never saw things.