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Substance abuse or Cool factor: Coffee and anxiety

Moksha Pasricha

Remedial Blog

Substance abuse or Cool factor: Coffee and anxiety


Coffee is a widely available and consumed drink that has high levels of caffeine. Drinking coffee is not only widely practiced but it is also highly promoted in today’s modern world. It is a supposedly ‘cool’ drink which increases social status. With an increasing number of cafes like Starbucks and costa coffee along with the practice of taking pictures of your drink for social media, coffee drinking has become more than a recreational or energy inducing drink but a social activity in itself. There is also a lot of peer pressure involved with coffee drinking which adds to its large use in society. Coffee dates for studying, work and other activities have become quite the hype. Another reason why the sudden increasing coffee intake could have begun is because of an increasing cool factor associated with being busy. The glorification of being busy and overworked – which is supposedly a symbol for success is also associated with needing a large amount of coffee or caffeine to stay awake and energized to finish up your work.

However, what most people do not realize is, that too much coffee can lead to negative outcomes and intoxication. There is also a disorder in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders - V called caffeinism which involves symptoms of restlessness, nervousness, excitement, insomnia, muscle twitching, and gastrointestinal complaints. Another issue to consider is the ease and readiness in which caffeine is available which increases the perception that it is harmless. People are also exposed to coffee very young and start drinking at an early age, which later leads to the need of more coffee for the same effect. It is also very difficult to quit drinking so much coffee not only because it is an addictive substance but also because of how it is intertwined with our everyday life and society. We must realise that even though small amounts of coffee do not have harmful effects, if used in excess it can cause serious consequences.
 In this article in Psychology today titled Espresso to Stress-o – Coffee, Anxiety & Panic, Dr. Graham Davey delineates the relationship between coffee, anxiety and panic attacks. He emphasizes how drinking coffee has become very trendy and talks about how unlike other drugs – even legal ones like nicotine, there is a lot of judgement in society- it’s very unlikely to be judged for drinking too much coffee. There exists a wide spectrum of coffee drinkers from people who enjoy a cup three or four times a week to people who require 14 cups a day to function. There has been an increase in the ways coffee can be consumed as well with the production of espresso shots to coffee capsules. He says that because caffeine indirectly increases levels of norepinephrine, the effects of excess levels of coffee are very similar to anxiety symptoms. He recounts a case in which an army colonel was referred to a medical clinic for symptoms of an anxiety disorder. He reported having 8 to 14 cups of coffee a day. Simply reducing the amount of coffee resulted in a significant reduction in his physical symptoms.

Caffeine is also used in lab tests to induce panic – in a study with giving participants 10mg of coffee, patients diagnosed with panic disorders were affected more than healthy controls. Administrations of coffee also led to full blown panic attacks in some patients. Such and other studies have shown the relationship between anxiety and caffeine. It is, therefore, extremely pertinent to establish to conduct further relationships between anxiety and caffeine. It is also extremely important to create awareness that overuse of caffeine can have serious consequences.
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