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Headaches are just the start, caffeine could cause a full blown mental disorder

Psychiatrists are now officially worried that drinking too much coffee can lead to serious mental health problems including withdrawal and potential substance abuse.

For years doctors have known that caffeine can cause all sorts of problems, but the new version of the psychiatrists’ Bible, the DSM-5, adds two new disorders for coffee drinkers to worry about.

The first of these — caffeine withdrawal — is the direct consequence of caffeine intoxication which was in the last version of the DSM, according to Live Science.

Restlessness, nervousness, excitement, red face, gastrointestinal upset, muscle twitching, rambling speech, sleeplessness, rapid and irregular heartbeat are all symptoms of caffeine intoxication but when a user abruptly stops their energy-boosting habit they are subjected to a whole other set of symptoms.

These include headache, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and depressed mood which are just some of the symptoms of the new disorder known as caffeine withdrawal.

“Caffeine is a drug, a mild stimulant, which is used by almost everybody on a daily basis,” said Dr. Charles O’Brien, Chair of the Substance-Related Disorder Work Group for the DSM-5.

“But it does have a letdown afterwards,” O’Brien warns, “If you drink a lot of coffee, at least two or three [eight ounce] cups at a time, there will be a rebound or withdrawal effect.”

Luckily for energy drink fans and coffee drinkers alike, caffeine withdrawal is fleeting.

“The symptoms of caffeine withdrawal are transitory, they take care of themselves,” said Robin Rosenberg, a clinical psychologist. “It’s just a natural response to stopping caffeine, and it clears up on its own in short order.”

While caffeine headaches might disappear by themselves, the new DSM also warns that drinking too much coffee on a regular basis could lead to a much more serious caffeine use disorder.

What this designation means on a practical level is that someone could habitually and compulsively drink so much coffee or Red Bull that it would take a physical, mental, or social toll — and yet the user still couldn’t stop drinking the coffee or Red Bull.

By classifying caffeine in this way, the energy-inducing substance joins the ranks of powerful drugs like alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, hallucinogens and other mind altering substances.

Thankfully for those in chronic need of a morning pick-me-up, caffeine’s place in the ranks of the world’s worst drugs is not cemented in place because there isn’t enough clinical data to make its place permanent.

“It isn’t clear that [caffeine use disorder] is clinically significant,” Dr. O’Briend said.