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3 Cups of Coffee Increases Hallucinations
PearsSoap writes "The Telegraph and other sources are pointing out a study on 200 students which has found that a high caffeine intake can cause visual and auditory hallucinations, and can make people think that others are 'out to get them.' The abstract (and full version if you have access) is available.
'The volunteers were questioned about their caffeine intake from products including coffee, tea, energy drinks, chocolate bars and caffeine tablets.'"
The study consisted of watching every episode of South Park featuring Tweak.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
It was 7 cups of coffee on the news this morning, mind you I might have hallucinated that.
So now it's one man and three cups? I thought the hallucination was about two girls!
"Triples your risk" - well, what are the risks WITHOUT coffee? I drink coffee all day long, yet I haven't had a hallucination since 1982 (the last time I did acid).
lack of sleep will case hallucinations.
And exactly what do they mean by "hallucinations?" Water swilrling down a drain may make you think you heard a female voice; "floaters" in your eyeballs (you'll get 'em when you're older) can make you momentarily think you saw something that wasn't there. I wouldn't count those as hallucinations.
"The new study also showed that people who had a high caffeine intake were not more likely to think that others were out to get them, a so-called "persecution complex".
That one little word omitted (that I bolded that WAS in TFA but not in the summary) changes the meaning completely, doesn't it? Taco, you need to cut down on the Jolt! get some sleep, dude!
Free Martian Whores!
I love the correlationisnotcausation tag. It gets applied to any story like this, and while it often seems to be accurate, I imagine someone would stick it on a story titled 'Study shows stabbing yourself may increase blood loss'.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
For the most part, LSD doesn't cause true hallucinations -- it distorts things. You'll see the wood grain on your desk flowing, or the tree waving at you... but you won't see a pink unicorn in the room next to you that doesn't correspond to some vaguely similar object that's actually there. Take a high enough dose, and the level of distortion gets high enough that it's hard to figure out whether that's still the case. But at the 1 dose level, the vast majority of people don't experience true hallucinations -- and it sounds like they're suggesting that with caffeine, that's not true.
I'm not high strung. I'm fine. I'M FINE OK...Hay, did you see that...Never mind...Their it is again! I said I'm fine. You know my computer screen is flickering a lot...Why are you looking at me like that? Can you open this can of Coke for me, my hands are shaky...I'll need a straw too, I dropped the last can...Actually I had a shaking fit and crushed it. Spilled Coke all over, people looked at me funny as I was licking it off my desk. Or it could be because they are out to get me. Why dose my desk shake like that? Stop saying that, I said I'M FINE! Hay did you see that?
We are the Borg...
Remember kids, just because it's legal, doesn't mean you're not a fucked-up addict. Seriously, absorbing caffeine through your skin?
Are you OK? Maybe you need to sit down for a few minutes. I'll buy you a coffee.
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
"Caffeine intake was positively related to stress levels and hallucination-proneness, but not persecutory ideation."
/.
Persecutory ideation = paranoia
This means that coffee doesn't make you paranoid....
way to go
I actually work part time for a Starbucks... and do you know who gets bitten by the caffeine fairy? Europeans.
When you go to Europe, you get espresso for nearly everything. If n American goes over there, they have name for their drink, an Americano. Shots + hot water. Ok.. 3 shots/200mg caf. ~300-400mg per drink. And you have the strength of the smoky espresso, so Americans get somewhat what they want.
Now, a European comes to the USA. They order a coffee (they expect espresso) and they're handed a cup of our coffee: coarse grounds over hot water. It tastes too weak, but they drink it anyways. They then drink 2-5 cups before the caffeine kicks in and they've never felt the jitters like that.
Our coffee extratcs more caf, but with less coffee flavour, while they extract flavour with less caffeine.. makes things fun.
Why Im there: 5 hours in a 5-10 am shift 4 times a week gives me full medical benefits on the cheap, so I can continue my consultancy.
"This means that coffee doesn't make you paranoid...."
Who told you to say that?
If I were God, wouldn't I protect my churches from acts of me?
I would tend to agree - I drink more coffee than that before 9am. I drink coffee all day long, even into the night. I have done so for more than 25 years with no hallucinations (as far as I can tell) or baseless paranoia.
Once upon a morning a long time ago, at an ISP now long since defunct, I drank 4 espressos, 6 double cappuccinos and a full pot of my regular strong coffee. I also had a "coffee bean" candy bar in addition to a couple really rich chocolate eclairs. I actually got a nose bleed, but no hallucinations.
OTOH: My sister and one of her friends once drank 3 cans (each) of Jolt cola, a 2L of Mountain Dew (each) and then split a few full 1lb bags of Plain Chocolate M&Ms. The hallucinated for at least an hour until they crashed - and hard. Probably needless to say: they both felt sick for a full day afterward.
-=- I tried going insane, and it was fun for a while, but I got bored and decided to go sane. -=-
This study CORRELATES high intake of caffeine to auditory/visual hallucinations--and ASSUMES caffeine came first. What if people who are already prone to having these hallucinations tend to consume more caffeine?
Another correlation of this nature is that people with schizophrenia are ~75% likely to smoke and others with mental illness are prone to this trend as well. Source Here.
Also, this study was held at a university, and their test subjects are freshmen/sophomore level psych majors looking to get extra credit in their 300 level class. These students are already stressed about exams, relationships, money, and the fact they will probably have to work at Starbucks when they graduate because they got a Pysch degree--so to suggest that the sample is not bias in that way (and is indeed not anymore stressed than the regular adult population) is unscientific.
"Engineering. Where the noble, semi-skilled laborers execute the vision of those who think and dream." -Sheldon
> I have done so for more than 25 years with no hallucinations (as far as I can tell) or baseless paranoia.
He's right. We haven't noticed any such behavior as we secretly watch him through his window.
Bark less. Wag more.
You know what would have really sorted you out? A big fat fucking spliff, or a hit from the bong </Cypress Hill>.
If I drink tea (I've never liked coffee) after about 10pm, there is no way I will fall asleep until gone midnight - the caffeine gives me enough of a kick to stop me dropping off. But if I am stoned then I can guzzle as much caffeine as I like and sleep ain't a problem.
The weed would have helped settle your stomach too.
But THC ain't patentable, so it stays illegal.
And corn makes growers a lot of money, even though hemp is a better source for biofuel.
And the wood-pulp based paper industry is happy with its methods, even though canvas lasts hundreds of years and doesn't go yellow.
And who needs natural fibres when they're making money from artificial fibres made from oil.
Car analogies break down.
The reason you haven't seen a darn thing is because the diabetes has destroyed your retinas.
Women are like electronics: you don't know how damaged they are until you try to turn them on.
You must stop this now. Consider my experience. I used to love Coke as a kid. My parents limited it, but I still drank more than I should have. Once I became an adult, there were no more limits. I drank as much as I wanted, when I wanted. I was tall and skinny (6'5", 185lbs) and ran 2 miles a day so I thought I could get away with it.
10 years later, I weighed 300lbs. I finally decided to do something about it. So like a good analyst, I did a quick inventory of what I was drinking and eating. I had never done this before. I was astonished.
I could eat an entire 5lb chicken, or an entire large pizza by myself. My typical day started with a visit to the clown for a #2 with a large coke. I didn't drink coffee so I replaced it with coke. I'd drink another can before lunch. Then 2 or 3 of those mugs of coke a chili's. Then another can or two in the afternoon. Then maybe dinner out with something similar to the 2 or 3 chili's mugs. If we ate at home, it would be a large glass or maybe 2 cans of coke in the evening.
If you add all the ounces up and divide by 12, I was drinking the equivalent of 13 cans of coke a day. This is 1800 calories. It's the same as 196 of those white sugar packets. Just coke.
When you consider that both my parents are diabetic, and diabetes killed my grandfather, you can see how dangerous this is. Now, I drink maybe 4 cans of coke per year. I'm now 260 which is 20lbs more than I usually am, which i'm in the process of losing.
All soft drinks are evil. They cause insulin spikes, which contribute to obesity. They cause insulin resistance long term. And the phosphoric acid leaches calcium from your bones causing brittle bones in old age. Diet soft drinks are no better. Stop drinking them before it's too late.
Disconnect your television. Do your own research. Draw your own conclusions. They're probably lying. Don't be a sheep.