Governments ban coffee in 3-2-1. . .

As Terry from T5 Espresso mentioned to me earlier today, the press is beating up a story about coffee's 'hallucinogenic' properties. Now I'm fairly comfortable with the Durham University research project, I think from what I can see it is well researched and within the ethical research guidelines, but it is not about coffee.

The full title of the article is: "Caffeine, stress, and proneness to psychosis-like experiences: A preliminary investigation" it appears to be linked to another study entitled: "In a dark time: Development, validation, and correlates of the Durham hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations questionnaire"

The second report is on the development of measures to allow people to report on the auditory, visual and felt (as in, 'I feel a presence. . .') experiences of hallucination.

The first article discusses the role of caffeine in raising levels of the hormone cortisol which is proposed to play a role in the manifestation of psychotic experiences. The study found that "Caffeine intake was positively related to stress levels and hallucination-proneness, but not persecutory ideation."

In other words, it does increase cortisol, and thus make people more prone to hallucinations (but not necessarily cause them).

But why is it that every time you mention "hallucination", the media go nuts?

In this case some media outlets are suggesting that coffee causes hallucinations without proper reference to the paper's conclusions. I imagine if you drink enough coffee that hallucination might be possible, but the study does not suggest that coffee is an hallucinogenic drug. It merely notes a link between people who have hallucinations, stress, elevated levels of cortisol and the consumption of coffee.

One of the researchers in fact suggested that coffee consumption was possibly part of the coping strategy of people having hallucinations, rather than a cause.

So please media peeps, calm back down, go have an affogato and relax.

Just don't do it somewhere with paisley wallpaper. . .