Too much caffeine has been blamed for everything from irregular heartbeats to kidney stones. A new study claims that java junkies face an otherworldly risk: hearing voices, sensing the presence of dead people, and seeing things that aren’t there.

That’s the creepy conclusion of a study conducted by Simon Jones, PhD, a psychology student at Durham University in England, who surveyed 200 fellow students. Those who consumed more than the equivalent of seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times as likely to experience hallucinations as those who consumed less than one cup a day. The analysis looked at coffee as well as other sources of caffeine, including tea, energy drinks, chocolate, and caffeine tablets.

The research team, which also included Charles Fernyhough from Durham University’s psychology department, admitted that they can’t tell from their findings whether caffeine makes people experience hallucinations or whether people prone to experiencing things that aren’t there are simply more likely to consume caffeine. Caffeine is known to boost a stress hormone called cortisol, which could in turn increase the tendency to hallucinate, the scientists speculate.

Luckily, hearing voices or seeing the dead walking among us around aren’t necessarily reasons to give up caffeine. As research Simon Jones explained, “Hallucinations are not necessarily a sign of mental illness. Most people have had brief experience of hearing voices when there is no one there, and around three percent of people regularly hear such voices.” Still, if the findings are confirmed, they could encourage people troubled by paranormal experiences to go easy on high octane brew.

You can participate in Simon’s on-going research into hallucinations by checking out his website. For more on hearing voices, check out the Hearing Voices Network

© 2009 PDQhealth

Tags: caffeine, coffee, hallucinations, hearing voices