High dose coffee linked to hallucinations? I've gone through heavy caffeine phases in my life, but never to the point where I was sensing the presence of deceased people: Heavy drinkers of coffee, tea, energy drinks, and other caffeinated beverages are more likely to hallucinate, hear imaginary voices, and even sense the presence of deceased people, a new study suggests. Among the 200 test subjects, those who consumed the equivalent of seven cups of coffee a day were found to be three times more likely to have hallucinatory experiences than those who consumed less than a single cup a day. Before you high school students throw out all your bottles of Robitussin and switch to caffeine binges, take note: Before you high school students throw out all your bottles of Robitussin and switch to caffeine binges, take note: Lead author Simon Jones, a psychology Ph.D. student at Durham University in the U.K, is intrigued but cautious about the connection. "This hasn't shown that caffeine causes hallucinations, though the data are consistent with that idea," he said. "It could also be that people who have hallucinations are more anxious and worried, so that causes them to consume more caffeine." Which is kind of a curious statement - I would have thought people who have hallucinations would be reaching for something a little more soothing than caffeine. At any rate, the overall finding isn't totally surprising (a super high dose of a stimulant causes weird & freaky experiences? no way!) - but it does beg the question of how long will it be before this powerful LSD-like substance is banned by the states in order to protect our children? Which is kind of a curious statement - I would have thought people who have hallucinations would be reaching for something a little more soothing than caffeine. At any rate, the overall finding isn't totally surprising (a super high dose of a stimulant causes weird & freaky experiences? no way!) - but it does beg the question of how long will it be before this powerful LSD-like substance is banned by the states in order to protect our children? » more at: news.nationalgeographic.com Posted By Scotto at 2009-02-22 12:20:47 permalink | comments Tags: caffeine coffee tea hallucinations » More ways to bookmark this page





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