Too much caffeine linked to hallucinations

KSFY ^ | 01.13.09 | Michael Kahn

[Perdogg]

Hearing voices when nobody is around or seeing things that aren't there? Too much caffeine could be to blame, British researchers reported on Wednesday.

Their study found that students who consumed more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to have had these kinds of hallucinations compared to people on a single daily cup.

[Perdogg]

ping

[saveliberty]

I can understand having one or two cups of instant coffee (necessity) but at 7, someone needs to go and buy a coffee maker to make good coffee.

:p bleh

[null and void]

Thus explaining Seattle...

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I drink a LOT of pop. Of course, I also had this horrible, whacked out hallucination that Obama won the campaign, too, so maybe I’d better lay off.

[RJS1950]

I’ve consumed at least that much caffeine every day for years and the only time I thought I was having a bad hallucination was the morning after the last election.

[SkyDancer]

I guess that's the reason I think I'm landing at Boston when actually I'm coming into Fargo, ND .... :)

[KarlInOhio]

Their study found that students who consumed more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day

Do they drink it or just eat it directly from the jar to get that much instant coffee? Drink some hot water with it and let your stomach do the brewing.

[trisham]

Seven cups? What about..ten to fifteen of real coffee?

[polymuser]

Why is the headline dripping on my keyboard?

Hey!

What?

What?

[theDentist]

"Well,thatexplainsalotofthings!"

[Perdogg]

How many cups will make Obama go away?

[exist]

I would prefer not to have hallucinations but I can’t go without coffee. And decaf just doesn’t cut it.

[Perdogg]

pop has only about 55-70 mg of caffeine while coffee has 150-220 mg.

[null and void]

Hey Darks? We need your recipe...

[trisham]

More than twenty, if my experience is any measure.

[timm22]

According to the article, the study did not ask the students how much sleep they got. Sleep deprivation (often experienced by caffeine-fueled students trying to get in extra study hours) can do funny things to the mind.

Of course a study that comes to obvious conclusions doesn't get featured in the headlines or lead to more grants, so...

[null and void]

[HangnJudge]

post hoc ergo propter hoc

Perhaps students who have a
predilection to hallucinate
tend to drink more coffee.

Or perhaps some common link
increases caffeine consumption
and psychotic ideation

[fishtank]