Did You See That Pink Elephant?
By JULIE FIEDLER
Updated 11:18 PM EDT, Tue, Jul 28, 2009
Have a coffee habit? Do you down about a gajillion litres of Dr. Pepper a day? High caffeine consumption may invite some unwanted visitors.
According to a recent study from the UK, people who consume unusually high amounts of caffeine (think more than 7 cups of coffee a day) are more prone to have hallucinations than those who don't. The hallucinations can take the form of hearing disembodied voices or seeing things that just aren't there.
The study surveyed 200 students about caffeine consumption and looked at how much they consumed, as well as what form they consumed it in: coffee, tea, energy drinks, soda, chocolate, caffeine pills. The authors then looked at how likey the students were to have hallucinations. They found that people who drank the equivalent of 7 cups of coffee were 3 times more likely to hallucinate than those who had the equivalent of one cup of coffee.
The study did not point to a casual link between the two. According to one of the authors, Charles Feryhough, 3% of people hear disembodied voices on a regular basis. He suggested that caffeine use may simply be one way people "cope with their experiences" or that the caffeine may simply boost the effects of stress.
Simon Jones, another author of the study published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences, said that "It's surprising that there has been so little research into nutrition and hallucinations." He added that, "Given the link between food and mood, and particularly between caffeine and the body's response to stress, it seems sensible to examine what a nutritional perspective may add."
First Published: Jan 15, 2009 10:50 AM EDT
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